Agritech

The Agritech Industry Transformation plan seeks to create a world-leading agritech industry. It was developed in collaboration with an all-of-government agritech taskforce and AgriTech New Zealand, as well as the broader agritech ecosystem.

It sets out an approach to the long-term transformation of the agritech sector to make it more productive, sustainable and inclusive as part of a zero-carbon economy. It aims to provide the agritech sector with the support to:

• accelerate its growth
• attract necessary investment
• increase commercialisation of New Zealand agritech intellectual property
• address global opportunities and increase exports
• develop needed skills and address regulation and data interoperability issues.

It is timely to take stock and build on the successes of the initial Agritech Industry Transformation Plan launched in July 2020.

The refreshed Agritech Industry Transformation Plan proposes an updated vision of ‘a globally-recognised agritech sector creating solutions for a better world.’ It aims to accelerate the growth of New Zealand’s agritech sector to reach $8 billion by 2030.

The actions in the refreshed plan include focusing on boosting business capability, driving Māori participation, building an investment environment for agritech, and increasing global connections.

Achievements since the launch of the initial Plan in 2020 include:

• New Zealand is hosting international trials under Farm 2050 which is a global research initiative to pilot on-farm nutrient technologies. These trials started in early 2022, with a number of New Zealand and international firms involved.
• The launch of the Specialised Agritech Venture Capital Fund, a $40 million joint between New Zealand Capital Growth Partners and Finistere fund to help address investment gaps across the agritech sector.
• Showcasing early-stage New Zealand agritech firms to international growers, which has led to strong interest. One New Zealand firm, Hectre, has been picked up for a trial of its orchard management software by the large Chilean grower Copefrut.
• Callaghan Innovation and NZTE have been working to improve the agritech sector’s international outlook and connections. This includes hosting webinars with international multinational corporations, government agencies, and accelerators; as well as creating and promoting the NZ Agritech Story Powered by Place and using it to launch a campaign in the UK.
• Proofs-of-concept have shown the value of data interoperability across the primary sector value chain, such as by integrating data from growers and the packhouse. These efforts have seen strong industry interest, with funding by industry and government.

Read more about the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan