Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures projects

This project builds on previous knowledge and sees restoration efforts extended into two new regions. It focuses on restoring wild mussel beds, understanding spat recruitment and using recycled shells to create habitats.

This project will develop a prototype tumbler to dry pinecones for seed extraction. This new way of processing pine nuts aims to reduce the carbon and environmental impact of traditional drying methods and offer increased profitability for growers.

This project aimed to finish the verification and validation of Bovonic Limited’s QuadSense Mastitis Detector and move it from prototype to production. The key research finding was that the milk conductivity from each quarter of a cow’s udder can be analysed in real time to detect mastitis with great accuracy. The researchers created an accessible, simple, and affordable product to perform this function, which had previously required either a robotic milking system or a complicated, expensive in-line sensor unit.

This project will enable pig farmers in New Zealand to estimate the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for pig-meat production and identify ‘hot spots’ for carbon emissions in farming activities. It will also provide collective industry data and comparison with other protein sources.

This project will quantify the potential benefits to the Greenshell Mussel industry of farming non-reproductive triploid mussel stocks. Benefits include their potential to provide reduced seasonality in production, increased growth and survival rates, and greater spat (seed) retention. 

The project seeks to trial commercial scale nanobubble technology in a range of irrigated farms with differing soils and climates. It will do this by integrating nanobubble technology within existing pivot irrigators on-farm, and will study the effects on growth rates of pasture and water usage, as well as nitrogen leaching.

The tiny bubbles helping farmers save water - The Post

The project aimed to understand the impacts of soil management practices on grape production and vineyard management. Following grower engagement, Bragato Research Institute has developed a pilot soil management tool, which allows users to access soil type information for their location, and recommended soil management practices. 

This project embarks on an exploration of the plant bioactives sector, grounded in the foundations of mātauranga Māori and te ao Māori. Its primary objective is to evaluate the viability of establishing a robust value chain within this sector. The insights gleaned from this research will play a pivotal role in formulating a business case for prospective investments in the future.

This project aims to develop practical management strategies to measure and mitigate soil compaction under pasture irrigation. It will do this by identifying appropriate wait times between irrigation and grazing.

This project aims to build an artificial intelligence platform that will enable marine farmers to consistently predict shellfish meat yield. Accurate harvest yield assessments have the potential to significantly increase production value. This would result in economic gains and encourage further investment in this highly sustainable industry.

Ovāvo Limited has developed an extract from the waste stream of avocado skins, which would otherwise have gone to landfill. The extract has potential as a functional food additive and preservative. This project supports further research and development to ensure it is safe for human consumption and to gain regulatory approval.

New Zealand company turns upcycled avocado into freeze-dried powder - Newshub

This project will determine the aspirations and requirements for a sustainable and profitable forestry industry in the next 30 years, and what research and development is needed to achieve this. It will do this by engaging with multiple stakeholders both within the sector and in dependent sectors such as building and construction.

This project will combine technologies to design, build and test a new sprayer system for kiwifruit. This concept is expected to allow more targeted spraying and reduce spray losses to soil and air.

This project will develop a formula for a nutritional alternative to dairy milk made from New Zealand grown hemp seeds.

This project will partner develop an Life Cycle Assessment and Environment Product Declaration for Terra Lana’s wool insulation and landscape matting products. These internationally recognised accreditations will provide the scientific evidence needed to back up Terra Lana’s sustainability value proposition and will help substantiate claims of New Zealand strong wool as one of the most sustainable fibres available globally.

The project will develop new extraction methods and technologies to convert sheep waste-streams into products suitable to supply existing and emerging premium markets. Project outputs include a prototype suitable for scale-up and commercial readiness.

The project successfully performed a manual trial of freezing cherries. It found that there is strong demand for New Zealand-grown individually quick frozen (IQF) cherries, and they command a premium price in the market. The processing systems developed during this project can be adapted for other New Zealand-grown IQF fruits. This will open up broader market opportunities for the horticultural sector.

Frozen cherries trialled in Otago - Farmers Weekly

This project aims to establish Māori Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated as an independent exporter entity of kiwifruit in an indigenous co-marketing initiative with Zespri. This will increase participation of Māori along the kiwifruit value chain, increase value of export earnings to growers, tell the story of Māori-produced kiwifruit and reaffirm connections with communities in Aotearoa to indigenous peoples around the world.

This project will provide information and knowledge to support New Zealand sheep and beef farmers to produce more reliable and better yielding summer-forage brassica crops. This will increase resource use efficiencies and reduce environmental pollution, including nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions.

This project aimed to develop a new industry in New Zealand that will supply premium cider both domestically and for export. It  developed a roadmap that identified the key issues and work streams required to coordinate this emerging sector. In phase 2 Cider Apples NZ plans to raise private investment and develop a programme of work to accelerate the development of the new industry.

Roadmap for Premium Cider Industry in New Zealand - Full Report