Call for supports as number of Irish growers plummets

RTÉ News · Aengus Cox · 2026-10-30 07:00 UTC

The country's fruit and vegetable producers are calling for more support from retailers and the Government to address an alarming decline in the number of commercial growers in recent decades.

The country's fruit and vegetable producers are calling for more support from retailers and the Government to address an alarming decline in the number of commercial growers in recent decades.

Since the 1990s, it is estimated that the number of commercial growers here has plunged from over 600 to around 70.

"We're down to five tomato growers, large-scale tomato growers in Ireland," said Martin Flynn, whose family has been growing tomatoes near Swords in north Co Dublin since the 1960s.

Read the full story at RTÉ News · All coverage of this story