Boost for primary sector research needed
October 11th, 2011
NZ needs to dramatically boost its financial commitment to primary sector research and development say two prominent figures who have or have had close associations with agriculture.
Former Minister of Agriculture Jim Anderton says NZ needs to invest more in research and development in order to break the economy out of being too reliant on low-value commodities like milk and wool.
More investment in science is the only way to boost the value of primary exports before they are exported.
While some companies are already extracting ingredients from milk, which are then exported for thousands of dollars a tonne, but he says this must be stepped up.
His comments are backed up by Fed Farmers vice president William Rolleston who points out NZ has the lowest investment in science among OECD countries, at 1.2% of GDP.
Rolleston says this needs to be more than doubled to 3% to provide the funding to increase the value of farm products, while reducing their environmental footprint.
The Main Report says: Anderton and Rolleston are right on the money. NZ needs to extract more dollars from its primary sector exports rather than concentrating on boosting volume.
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