The agri-business sector created 3,000 jobs last year and agriculture is now an attractive investment opportunity, according to economist Jim Power.
At a conference on food and agri-business in Croke Park, Mr Power said the jobs were largely filled by young people entering farming, and by new employment in small businesses.
Because of price volatility and greater competition, however, Mr Power urged farmers and investors to be cautious and to devise careful business plans - despite the increased confidence and optimism on the ground.
Another speaker, Mark Gavin, CEO of Carroll Cuisine, said it scared him to see people with marketing degrees emigrating from Ireland. He said the Government must help set up a two-year fellowship programme to give graduates experience in the food industry.
The Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness said there was a commitment at Government level to the agri-business sector, and a willingness to keep young people in Ireland.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney emphasised the need for a strong, national brand for Irish food. He also said that Irish food companies need greater co-operation, competition and consolidation to compete effectively against larger global competitors.
Minister Coveney said that the opportunities arising from the end of milk quotas in 2015 must be fully capitalised on, as Ireland is one of only a few countries with scope for large expansion after the abolition of quotas. He also said there were great opportunities for development in the fisheries sector.
The chief executive of Bord Bia, Aidan Cotter said there has been significant convergence between EU and world prices for food, with European prices no longer much more expensive. He said the world would have to produce 40% more food in the next few decades.
Mr Cotter also pointed to the global scarcity of water and noted that some industrialists viewed the production of food for use as fuel as immoral. Mr Cotter said there should sometimes be more focus on consumers, but believed the Irish food sector was making significant progress.
Jim Bergin, CEO of Dairy Ingredients Ireland, said the dairy industry was quite immature in some respects, as well as being fragmented and underfunded.
