Advances in genomics offer potential to speed up the development of crops and livestock with desirable and valuable traits that meet productivity, quality and environmental goals.
Both experts and literature Sapere Research Group used for the report highlight gene-editing techniques as presenting a broad range of opportunities for significant change.
It is much more precise than traditional breeding techniques and might, therefore, be lower risk and generally cuts the development time.
Most gene editing relates to crops but it has potential for animal breeding though it is regarded in NZ as genetic engineering.
For plants it can improve disease resistance, delay flowering time, increase oil content, raise nutritional quality, reduce nicotine content and increase drought tolerance. For animals it can increase muscle yield in cattle, dehorn calves, eliminate allergens from milk, improve disease resistance and remove unwanted proteins.
Gene editing could result in fewer inputs being needed for crops and livestock production thus lowering resource depletion and harm from such production.
Disease resistance in plants would cut pesticide use and eliminating factors that reduce growth could mean less fertiliser is used leading to equivalent reductions in environmental damage.
“Interviewees suggested that the potential paradigm-shifting nature of advances in genomics has particular relevance to NZ given our position on genetic modification.
“In light of NZ’s clean and green branding some interviewees thought a continued reluctance to allow gene editing that could potentially reduce environmental impacts is somewhat incongruous.
“The advanced understanding associated with genomics, and gene editing in particular, may mean that NZ’s position requires updating.”
And there is a risk NZ could find itself behind the pack if developments overseas continue apace.
NZ could find a niche developing more productive animals and foods with specific healthcare benefits and mitigating adverse environmental effects.
“However, the specific nature of NZ and its relationship to genetic modification meant that the potential to maximise the opportunity in genetics may be limited inside NZ while current policy settings and political appetites remain constant.
The report says it is recognised NZ will not be able to compete in the plant-based alternative protein market because it lacks scale, is distant from markets and the commodity nature of the products such as soy production.
Interviewees were sceptical about the ability of alternative proteins, either-plant based or lab-grown, to achieve their goals or change land-based farming systems to any significant degree.
The experts doubt the scalability of plant-based protein activities to meet future food security issues.
“They also questioned the claims that consumer preferences are shifting away from animal-based protein, considering that notion overblown.
“The combination of these factors led the interviewees to believe that the economics of alternative proteins do not stack up.”
They believe lab-grown meat also has scale problems and the technology used for it is likely to be applied to higher-priority health products rather than food production because returns for healthcare are considerable greater than for food.
However, today’s consumers have different tastes, preferences and concerns to those of 30 years ago and organic certification, free-range, health labels and fair trade logos are commonplace in supermarkets.
So the experts say there has been a significant swing in consumer consciousness that will contribute to major change for land-based farm systems.
“In addition to the environmental and animal welfare concerns experts think consumers will continue to raise demand for quality, food safety, healthiness, provenance, ethics and biosecurity.”
Supermarkets are already using codes on fresh meat, fruit and vegetable that allow customers to scan them to see where products originated and view nutritional information.
And digital technology allows events, both positive and negative, to be easily captured and rapidly disseminated to a wide audience.
“This means that farmers will radically need to alter the way they deal with or consider consumers of their products and modify practices and communications to be much closer to said consumers than they may have been in the past, regardless of how knowledgeable or well-informed consumer perceptions are.
“The scientific and logical basis for consumer beliefs is less material than what consumers feel.”
Organisations in NZ noted technology is available to provide traceability but implementation of it isn’t.
“Therefore, despite the clear customer need to understand the provenance of their products and the existence of the tools to deliver that need, organisation were not well equipped to meet consumers’ requirements for traceability and food safety,” the report said.
Interviewees said NZ is not taking advantage of the ability to get close to its customers.
MORE:
Read the report at mbie.govt.nz/about/news/future-farming/
