Company heads cite access to customers as the greatest threat with more than half of respondents saying it is their greatest challenge.
At the time of the survey 40% of respondents had also taken advantage of the Government’s economic response package.
While customer access will improve over time respondents were critical of the Government definition of essential business shutting most off from customers.
The restriction on international travel is further elevating concern, particularly given there is no date set for that to change.
But the longer-term future of the sector also appears tenuous because of a lack of finance.
A third of respondents said funding access is their biggest risk, with most expecting capita-raising in an already tough environment to get tougher.
Most companies are resetting business plans and financial models to push their cash reserves out further and are likely to cut research and development and staff.
The agri-tech sector’s exports were valued at $1.4 billion in 2018 and are growing at a rate of 4% a year. It remains dwarfed by output from comparable countries like Israel, which exports 10 times as much as NZ.
Agritech NZ director Peter Wren-Hilton said the Industry Transformation Plan released earlier this year will need to play a central part in Government policy to preserve and grow the industry.
The plan aims to boost the sector’s growth and make up for distance lost since then Prime Minister Helen Clark’s knowledge wave initiative in 2001 set bold goals for the sector.
The plan is high on specifics, identifying robotics as a key area of investment to pursue.
An agri-tech venture capital fund has also been proposed and the plan also aims to establish trials to validate technology’s ability to reduce farming’s environmental footprint. The agri-tech plan was the first of several industry plans proposed by the Government.
Wren-Hilton said the survey reveals significant challenges for the sector.
“The collaborative framework of the ITP is now more important than ever. For NZ’s agri-tech sector it is imperative the Government incorporates the ITP into its economic recovery programme at the earliest opportunity.”
He took heart the plan is shovel-ready without the shovels.
“Having the ITP framework already there in place ready to go puts the industry in a better position than many.”
He hopes the Governments recovery Budget on May 14 will have funding for the industry.
