The Irish Farmers Association has called on the Government to invest €500 million a year to secure the future of the Irish farming sector.
Setting out the organisation's vision for the sector, IFA President Padraig Walshe said an accelerated Government policy response and new investment were required.
"The pace of change in CAP Reform and the impact of globalisation through the WTO pose immense and immediate challenges for Irish farmers operating in a high cost economy," said Mr Walshe.
Speaking at his own family farm near Durrow, Co Laois, he added: "Farm product prices and farm incomes are under pressure. Farmers' ability to compete and survive is seriously hampered by inadequate scale and resources.
"Rapid advances are now required to achieve a new vision to sustain family farming."
The farming and food sector, and the service industries depending on them, provide 320,000 jobs or 20 per cent of all non-public service employment, he pointed out.
Mr Walshe described the IFA document - Meeting the Challenges of WTO and CAP Reform: IFA Submission to Government for a Viable Farming and Food Sector and Sustainable Rural Economy - as a "major drive for improved competitiveness and structural reform in farming.
It recommendations include a national initiative on farm consolidation, including both relief from capital gains tax and stamp duty, and long-term land leasing incentives.
The IFA President also put forward measures to improve efficiency in the main farming sectors, including a €100 million three-year investment and restructuring plan for the dairy processing sector.
The IFA's blueprint also includes detailed proposals on the environment and land management and a section on renewable energy from agriculture and forestry.
"At a time when the wealth of the nation is at an all time high and Exchequer resources are clearly available, the IFA plan is a 'must do' for Government," Mr Walsh said.
"Failure to invest in agriculture now will weaken the competitiveness of the industry in the future, unnecessarily damaging the sustainability of the food industry and the rural economy."
