AGRITECH
ADVANCES
More than 30 New Zealand agritech leaders are now making history in Silicon
Valley. As part of the international 2018 Silicon Valley agritech immersion
programme and conference, key personnel from four Kiwi companies and
organisations - Tauranga’s Wharf42, Agritech New Zealand, Callaghan Innovation
and NZTE – will spend time in the US, and Agritech New Zealand executive
director Peter Wren-Hilton says the experience will have a significant and longterm
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 73
Agritech New Zealand is
helping build a world class
agritech ecosystem but
New Zealand needs to
integrate agriculture and
technology to strengthen its primary export
sector. An exploding world population
and climate change is increasing the
urgency for more sustainable use of natural
resources in farming.
Cutting-edge agritech is providing
alternatives to traditional farming methods
and revolutionising the sector.
The economic return through increased
cross-border trade is now being measured
in the high hundreds of multi-million dollars
for the New Zealand economy. This is
huge, with at least five of the original cohort
of early stage Kiwi companies engaged in
the first Silicon Valley AgTech Immersion
Programme now formally established in
North America.
These are exciting times for New Zealand
impact on the country’s emerging agritech sector.
agritech. As the global demand for more
food grows, we are well placed to provide
the knowledge, the products and the
services to help make that happen. This
month’s Silicon Valley event is just one
more key step in that direction.
We are hoping for a major international
agritech announcement later this month,
directly involving New Zealand which
needs to catch up with some of the world’s
leading agritech players including Israel,
Ireland, the Netherlands and the USA.
What happens over the next few months
could well determine just where New
Zealand sits in this global industry in the
years ahead.
Innovation in the agritech sector is growing
at an exponential rate, with emerging
technologies such as AI taking a serious
chunk of both attention and investment.
New Zealand agri-technology competes
with the best. However, if we simply sit
back and don’t take proactive steps to
engage with the wider global market, both
ag and investment, then we will never
reach our full potential.
As the world’s demand for food increases
with its ever-growing population, New
Zealand can expand its primary sector
further by focusing on producing
higher value produce for the world. The
application of smart technology will not
only assist this growth but ensure that it is
achieved in far more sustainable long-term
ways, caring for our environment and
protecting it for future generations.
New Zealand invests nearly $750 million
in research and development for food
and agriculture, but is only just starting to
see innovation start-ups commercialise
the tech resource coming from public
and private investment. Our country is a
big primary producer and tech will very
soon make a big difference to agriculture.
Digitisation of the farm is impacting
agriculture globally.
Innovation in
the agritech
sector is
growing at an
exponential
rate, with
emerging
technologies
such as
AI taking
a serious
chunk of both
attention and
investment.
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
