Friday, March 29, 2024

What’s in store?

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As we look into our crystal ball one thing is certain, 2020 will be very different to 2019.
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We have, of course, 2019 to thank for that. 

It was the year when major foundations were put in place for the scaling and growth of the country’s agritech sector. 

Some of the key milestones for Agritech NZ included the vote taken at the Precision Agriculture Association annual meeting in November to disestablish itself and join Agritech NZ in the Tech Alliance while Agritech NZ’s executive council approved the move in December meaning the country now has a very significant industry body representing both the demand and supply sides of the agritech coin.

The Cabinet decision in December to support the recommendations in the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan white paper provides a major opportunity for a wide range of Government levers to be pulled to address some of the key challenges and opportunities the sector faces. 

By working together industry and the Government now have a powerful framework to build on. It will be a major focus for Agritech NZ through the year.

The increasing depth of global capital being attracted into emerging NZ agritech companies shows interest in our sector is growing exponentially as offshore partners get a better understanding of our core capabilities and strengths. Further major offshore delegations in 2020 are designed to increase this level of global connectivity.

The launch of the Australia NZ Agritech Council in September was designed to position the trans-Tasman region as being a key agritech hub in the global market. Expect more news at next month’s evokeAG conference in Melbourne when more than 100 Kiwi delegates are expected to attend.

It’s hard not to think about the plight of Australian farmers and growers in the ongoing bush fires tragedy. It has brought the impact and reality of climate change into sharp focus. I believe this is going to be a key theme for NZ’s own primary sector producers through 2020 and beyond.

There are a number of emerging global mega themes – climate change, more extreme weather, the environmental impact of agricultural production and the licence to operate are some of the most significant. I believe they will be some of the key drivers in terms of agritech innovation and development in NZ this year.

Perhaps some of the most important opportunities for supporting the wider farmer and grower community by the country’s agritech sector are to be found in the provisions of the Zero Carbon Act, passed by Parliament in 2019. 

They set out the impact of an emissions pricing scheme designed to make NZ carbon neutral by 2050. In supporting legislation, the Emissions Trading Reform Bill, the primary sector is still set to pay for emissions but not until 2025. The sector will work with the Government to come up with its own on-farm pricing scheme, aiming to reduce emissions in the meantime. A review in 2022 will develop the alternative pricing scheme, assess the sector’s progress in reducing emissions and consider the barriers it faces.

Significantly, if the review finds there isn’t enough progress the Government can put the agriculture sector into the Emissions Trading Scheme at processor level earlier than 2025.

From my perspective, that provides two key opportunities for NZ’s wider agritech ecosystem to collaborate. And, here, I am looking at four key stakeholder groups: industry, research, producers and Government.

The first is to support our primary sector producers by developing the key technologies necessary to reduce emissions and so meet the major targets set out in the legislation. 

Our farmers and growers have seen enough of the regulation, the media commentary and the negative bile from naysayers. 

It’s time to come up with the investment and innovation necessary for our key producers, to help them address the issues they and the rest of the community, urban dwellers included, face around cleaning up our waterways and any other negative environmental impact.

The second, and perhaps much more significant opportunity, is for NZ to take a global thought leadership position around climate change and the environmental impact of agricultural production to rapidly scale our major agritech businesses on the international stage. 

This has to be a core sector goal. 

It meets the demand and supply side metric. Farmers and growers worldwide need the technology. Our researchers and commercial companies can deliver it.

Over the next 12 months Agritech NZ will be working with the Government’s Agritech Industry Transformation Plan taskforce to accelerate some of these opportunities. They meet both urgent domestic and global needs.

In 2019 Agritech NZ helped develop the emerging multi-stakeholder platform. Over the next 12 months we have the opportunity to assist, execute and deliver. Welcome to 2020.

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