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Students from across the country flocked to the RDS Dublin today (Wednesday, January 7) to showcase their projects at this year’s Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (YSTE).
Categories for the projects range from biology and ecological sciences to social and behavioural sciences, with many agricultural-inspired ideas on display.
President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly was the guest of honour to officially open this year’s event.
Agriland tagged along to the exhibition to chat to some of the students who have brought these ideas to life with their projects.
Eggs
One student, Brendan Maunsell from Mercy Secondary School Montauk, Co. Kerry, focused on egg incubation methods for small-scale production, comparing natural incubation with artificial incubators in his project.
Brendan comes from a dairy farming background, although he also tends a small flock of hens, which was the inspiration for the project.
“When I looked into incubating our own eggs, I realised there was very little data on small-scale farms, it was all [focused on] thousand-egg incubators where the data just wasn’t applicable in my situation,” he explained.
The YSTE project found that the overall cost of natural incubation was approximately 30c cheaper per successfully hatched egg and also had a lower carbon footprint.
While artificial incubators achieved a hatch rate about 16% higher than natural incubation, Brendan highlighted that it was “not enough to make up for the cost”.
“For me, the natural method makes the most sense, but it’s about getting the information out there so people can choose what suits them.”
Methane
A group of students behind the project ‘Cut Emissions, not Cattle’ explored practical ways to reduce emissions without reducing livestock numbers.
Students Aoibheann Flynn, Lena Keehan, and Katie Meeley from Our Lady’s Bower, Co. Westmeath, explained that the idea for their project was sparked by learning about methane in school, which is an environmental concern for cattle farms.
“Our farms are such a big part of our Irish identity, so rather than cutting down on cattle, we decided to find ways to fix the problem without having to ruin our farms,” the students said.
Their research showed that slurry treated with sulphuric acid reduced methane emissions by 47%, while slurry treated with bacteria reduced emissions by 80%.
Additionally, when applied to grassland, acid-treated slurry also improved grass growth, however the bacteria-treated slurry “under-performed a little bit”.
As a result, the students advised farmers to opt for sulphuric acid when treating their slurry.
Soil health
Rónan Byrne and John Duggan from Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh examined how urbanisation in Cork city is impacting soil health, focusing on soil carbon levels, phosphorous-solubilising bacteria and biodiversity.
“Soil is the biggest terrestrial carbon sink on the planet,” the students explained.
They added that while air and water pollution are often discussed, soil pollution does not get the same spotlight, which served as the inspiration for their project.
Their research compiled soil samples across urban environments in Cork and it revealed a strong relationship between soil organic carbon and microbial activity.
A key finding came from Tramore Valley Park, a former landfill site which has undergone major rejuvenation.
One of the students outlined that their findings showed that the park’s rejuvenation “had been very successful” and proved that restoring soil health in urban areas can be done and hopefully replicated in the future.
Genetics
Another project, created by students Darragh Hogan, Odhrán Goulding and Seán Whelan from Borrisokane Community College, Co. Tipperary, focused on breed selection to improve beef performance in the dairy industy.
“The inspiration for the project was to make farmers aware of the genetics of each beef breed and helping them maximise beef production,” the group said.
Their project’s findings crowned the Angus breed as the most efficient breed, citing its average daily weight gain and ability to “grow muscle easily.”
Generational renewal
Meanwhile a social science project titled ‘Who will farm tomorrow?’ examined the current downward trend of younger people entering the farming sector.
As part of their project, Andrea O’ Connor, Ria Kiely and Ruby Lehane from Millstreet Community School, Co. Cork found that 38% of farmers surveyed were over the age of 65.
They stressed the need for further government intervention to support generational renewal, warning that “no sowers today means no sowers tomorrow”.
“We hope that the government will take some initiative with it because if it was the same in any other sector, as for example, if 38% of nurses were over 65, there would be action taken,” the students added.
The Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition will be open to the public from tomorrow, Thursday January 7 until Saturday, January 10.
