The Medicinal Cannabis Playbook – Genetic Breeding and Organic Production
Project start: 7 April 2022
Project length: 5 years
MPI funding: $13,023,120
Industry funding: $19,193,000
Industry partner: : Puro New Zealand Limited
Region: Marlborough
This project will trial and develop various techniques for growing high-value, organically produced medicinal cannabis commercially. By developing New Zealand owned IP and cultivars, local growers would be less reliant on imported varieties. As well as developing unique pharmaceutical-grade cultivars and seed stock, Puro will produce a production handbook that will be available to the wider industry.
Govt helps fast-track organic medicinal cannabis industry – Government media release
$13m grant turbocharges NZ’s medicinal cannabis industry – Puro
Biocontrol of variegated thistle: a feasibility study
Project start: 26 October 2021
Project length: 1 year
MPI funding: $54,375
Industry funding: $43,500
Industry partner: AgResearch, Horizons Regional Council, Hawkes Bay Regional Council, Gisborne District Council, Bayly Partnership, Tangihau, Pakihiroa Farms Ltd, Pauariki, Integrated Foods, Puketiti, Arai Matawai, Tairāwhiti Land Development Trust, Toromiro
Region: Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui
This feasibility study will assess the potential for biocontrol of variegated thistle (Silybum marianum). It will document the current problem, the need for biocontrol agents, and their likelihood of success. The feasibility study will help inform decision-making on implementing biocontrol.
Accelerating New Zealand medicinal cannabis industry
Project start: 1 October 2021
Project length: 3 years
MPI funding: $761,136
Industry funding: $1,141,704
Industry partner: Greenlab
Region: Nationwide
This project will establish optimum cultivation practices for growing New Zealand-sourced strains of medicinal cannabis in a controlled environment. This information will enable licensed growers to consistently produce cannabis flowers with specific medicinal compounds.
Future proofing the New Zealand poultry industry against biological hazards
Project start: 9 March 2020
Project length: 2 years
MPI funding: $240,000
Industry funding: $110,000
Industry partner: Massey University, Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand, Egg Producers Federation
Region: Nationwide
The New Zealand poultry industry is vulnerable to infectious disease outbreaks that can disrupt domestic supply chains as well as access to international trade markets. This project involves working with poultry producers, industry, and government to co-design a national poultry information system with decision-support tools to help the poultry industry prepare and respond effectively to future disease threats.
Biological control of giant willow aphid
Project start: 25 February 2020
Project length: 2.5 years
MPI funding: $260,000
Industry funding: $97,000
Industry partner: Scion
Region: Nationwide
Scion is trialling a sustainable method of controlling giant willow aphid, an exotic pest with a particularly devastating impact on bee colonies. This will involve mass rearing and releasing Pauesia nigrovaria, a parasitoid from California, and monitoring its success. The parasitoid, which has been approved for release by the Environmental Protection Agency, will act as a biological control agent.
Parasitic wasps that leave mummified corpses Northland’s unlikely new environmental heroes – Stuff
The biology and impact of poplar sawfly
Project start: 21 February 2020
Project length: 1 year
MPI funding: $100,000
Industry funding: $25,000
Industry partner: New Zealand Poplar and Willow Research Trust
Region: Otago
An established population of poplar sawfly was detected in Dunedin in January 2019. These species are expected to spread rapidly throughout New Zealand. This project involves researching the poplar sawfly’s biology and impact on different poplar varieties to inform New Zealand’s approach to long-term management of this pest.
Find-A-Pest
Project start: 21 February 2020
Project length: 1 year
MPI funding: $255,445
Industry funding: $136,000
Industry partner: Scion
Region: Nationwide
Scion is improving a prototype Find-A-Pest app that enables members of the community to participate in biosecurity surveillance. Developed through a National Science Challenge project, the app provides users with simple options to report potential pests and weeds. It also alerts users to the biosecurity threats in a particular region or industry.
