Using microbiomes to combat trunk disease
Harnessing microbial communities to mitigate grapevine trunk disease is an “exciting prospect” for New Zealand’s wine industry, says Dr Hayley Ridgway.
A five-year New Zealand government-funded project to help Viet Nam build a more lucrative passionfruit industry was formally launched by the Prime Ministers of Viet Nam and New Zealand this week.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced the NZ$6.24m investment in Viet Nam’s horticulture sector, called the ‘Viet Nam Climate-Smart Fruit Value Chain project’, known as VietFruit.
The project is part of New Zealand’s international development cooperation framework with Viet Nam.
It aims to support the Southeast Asian country’s agricultural sector, build its resilience to climate change and disasters, and help it develop a highly skilled and educated workforce.
As a member, along with New Zealand, of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement fro Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) free trade agreement, Viet Nam is becoming increasingly important as a trade partner. For instance, in the year ending June 2023, Viet Nam was the second leading export destination for New Zealand apples, after China.
Plant & Food Research will deliver the VietFruit project, drawing on its track record of problem-solving and achieving impact through the application of scientific knowledge in conjunction with Vietnamese partners.
“We have deep partnerships with organisations in Viet Nam and have created real value,” says Dr Suzie Newman, head of international development at Plant & Food Research.
“We have worked with smallholder farmers, agronomists, scientists, food companies, exporters and officials at Vietnamese Government Ministries like Agriculture & Rural Development (MARD) and Science & Technology,” she says.
The VietFruit project has Plant & Food Research working with two Vietnamese institutes: the Southern Horticulture Research Institute (SOFRI) and the Northern Mountainous Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute (NOMASFI). Vietnamese firm Nafoods Group is also a commercial partner.
This project aims to deliver three key outcomes:
Project scoping followed by early implementation began last year. To date the project’s scientists have assessed disease and climate change impact challenges, begun field trials and conducted initial postharvest loss assessments along the value chain.
“The benefits of success will include increased incomes for smallholder farmers, distributors and exporters, improved fruit quality and more efficient growing and postharvest practices,” says Newman. “Overall, the project will achieve a real lift in environmental and economic sustainability for Viet Nam’s passionfruit sector. It’s a high-value export and a valuable addition to the economy of Viet Nam.”
Plant & Food Research has a growing track record of delivering impact through international development projects stretching from India to South-East Asia, Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean.
Funding is predominantly from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, supplemented by contracts with agencies including the World Bank and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
With close to 1000 people across New Zealand and the world, and an international network of scientific collaborators, Plant & Food Research pulls together teams with the right expertise for every project, working with in-country experts to ensure solutions are fit for purpose.
More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) says securing more China label registrations and developing its own nutritional manufacturing capability are high on its agenda.
Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.
As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.
Livestock can be bred for lower methane emissions while also improving productivity at a rate greater than what the industry is currently achieving, research has shown.
The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.
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