Agriculture/horticulture innovation

AgResearch's purpose is to enhance the value, productivity and profitability of Aotearoa New Zealand’s pastoral, agri-food and agri-technology sectors. Our aim to contribute to the economic growth of the country and help achieve positive environmental and social outcomes by utilising our diverse science capability - from farm systems to climate change mitigation and adaptation, to pest control and high value foods.

Following a dream of living on a coffee plantation a young man and his wife planted 700 coffee beans on a two and half hectare property in Pekerau Hills in Northland.

Starting with just two plants which gave rise to hundreds of cuttings a young couple have established NZ's first lavender farm at their Nelson property.

On 150 ha of flat river bed land beside the Selwyn river in Nth Canterbury a couple use clever growing techniques to extend the growing season for daffodils to almost six months of the year.

Two South Otago farmers were great believers in the benefits to be got from farming ‘biologically’ and took pride in their using only natural fertisers, a mixture of seawater, liquid seaweed, fishmeal and vermicast from a worm farm, in which worms turned over 60 tonnes of food, cow and chicken waste.

Traumatised by death and injury caused by a suicide bomber a young Israeli man set out on a search for treatment to heal his traumatic stress disorder.

Dairying was a good income earner for a young couple but it wasn’t enough.

Thanks to the innovative energy of their children, a couple farming land for 20 years on the South Otago coast and close to retirement, decided to diversify into milking sheep and in the process created a flavoured prebiotic sheep milk.

Called back to the family’s 9,300 ha farm in Central Otago, after a career in banking and as a budget caravan hire entrepreneur in the USA and NZ, the eldest son decided that the best way to combat the extreme climatic conditions of drought and heat experienced in the Maniototo was to replace monoculture with ‘regenerative agriculture’.

Living deep in the Taranaki countryside are two European immigrants who came to NZ to 'get away' from it all and to live self-sufficiently.