Feds: Endeavour Fund projects are an investment in our future
As an organisation that consistently calls for science and ground-truthed research to underpin policy and regulations,
Federated Farmers has no problem with the government investing $249 million in the 2018 round of the Endeavour Fund.
"It’s a lot of money but it should be viewed as an investment in our future," Feds science and innovation spokesperson
Andrew Hoggard says.
"The nation has some big challenges ahead, including improving resilience to climate change, protecting biodiversity and
maintaining economic performance.
The Endeavour Fund is New Zealand’s largest research and science contestable fund and the 69 multi-year projects
approved should deliver us real gains in knowledge and future opportunities," Andrew says.
"At least 19 of the projects directly relate to agriculture and food production, which is appropriate given that it is
the primary sectors that produce the lion’s share of the country’s export earnings."
In particular, Federated Farmers is pleased to see an $11.4m NIWA project to advance the carbon inventory locked up in
our forest, grassland and urban environments, and $7.7m to a Lincoln Agritech-led team which will seek better
understanding of the pathways by which nitrogen travels from land to waterways - a project which Feds identified as a
priority.
Massey University will get $11.2m for its project Milks Mean More: Unlocking the potential of New Zealand’s ruminant
milks, and NIWA will use $8m to explore new technologies to double the effectiveness of on-farm diffuse pollution
mitigation.
"New Zealand farmers pride themselves on being world leaders in both production and sustainability. We need the best
science and research data available to step up our game even more," Andrew says.
ENDS