Total fertiliser sales increased by more than 8% last season, in the first such hike in usage recorded for three years.

Department of Agriculture figures for the 12 months up to the end of September show that 1.23m tonnes of fertiliser were used on Irish farms.

This was 8.27% higher than the 1.14m tonnes sold during the 2022/23 season.

The increase will be viewed as a worrying development for the farm sector's efforts to meet its 25% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

Agriculture emissions decreased in 2023 by 4.6% to 20.8m tonnes of CO2 equivalent due primarily to an 18% reduction in nitrogen use.

Protected urea

However, despite the jump in sales last season, fertiliser usage is still 27% back on the recent high point of 2020/21 when 1.68m tonnes were purchased by farmers.

In addition, sales of protected urea last season reached almost 31,000 tonnes.

The 2023/24 figures showed an 8.22% increase in nitrogen sales, potassium sales were up 3.51%, while phosphorous usage dropped by 3.48%.