{"id":391256,"date":"2026-04-22T00:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/391256\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:15:14","slug":"science-funding-changes-risk-undermining-nzs-primary-sector-dr-jacqueline-rowarth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/391256\/","title":{"rendered":"Science funding changes risk undermining NZ\u2019s primary sector \u2013 Dr Jacqueline Rowarth"},"content":{"rendered":"

This means that any attempt at \u201cbalancing\u201d will result in some areas suffering severe losses \u2013 so severe that survival of both national science capability and capacity is at risk.<\/p>\n

A headline reading \u201cNew Zealand agricultural scientists now critically endangered\u201d might not worry some people, but perhaps when they are reminded that the primary sector contributed 82.9% of New Zealand\u2019s goods exports in the year to June 30, 2025, they might think again. <\/p>\n

The lifestyle of every New Zealander depends upon what the primary sector achieves.<\/p>\n

Various ministers in the past have declared that it is time to move on from farming. <\/p>\n

In her 2002 speech from the throne, the then Prime Minister Helen Clark<\/a> stated: \u201c\u2026 government should focus on areas which are capable of having a material impact on growth rates across the board, which are capable of developing world-class scale and specialisation quickly, and which contribute to the vision of a globally oriented, innovative New Zealand economy\u201d.<\/p>\n

Biotechnology, information and communications technology, and creative industries were considered most likely to help move New Zealand on to a higher growth plane.<\/p>\n

In 2019, an MBIE report<\/a> stated again that \u201cNew Zealand needs to move from volume to value in the largest areas of our export economy, such as agriculture and tourism. This involves a shift away from a growth strategy based on labour absorption and immigration to one in which productivity plays a much bigger role\u201d.<\/p>\n

Throughout the years and despite the recommendations for change, it is the primary sector that is creating the still-increasing value. <\/p>\n

Year after year, agriculture outperforms other sectors in the much vaunted productivity measurements; Stats NZ has the unequivocal data.<\/p>\n

Over the last 10 years, primary sector exports<\/a> have grown by an average of 5.3% per year, whereas other goods exports have managed only 2.1%.<\/p>\n

The gains reflect the fact that farmers and growers are indeed using and adapting technologies that are appropriate for their systems as they continue to advance. <\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s chief science adviser, Dr John Roche, has stated in a recent opinion piece that \u201cNew Zealand\u2019s prosperity has always been built on farmers and scientists working together to shape our economy\u201d. <\/p>\n

Obviously, the team has been successful.<\/p>\n

But funding cuts mean that teamwork is falling apart.<\/p>\n

International benchmarking makes the problem clear. <\/p>\n

Although New Zealand has invested far more of its public R&D budget in agricultural and environmental research than comparable small, advanced economies, there isn\u2019t nearly enough money being invested overall. <\/p>\n

The New Zealand total science investment is 1.5% of GDP; the EU average is 2.1% of GDP. <\/p>\n

Of this investment, the amount coming from the Government is nowhere near what is needed. <\/p>\n

Professor Sir Peter Gluckman<\/a>, the inaugural chief science adviser to the Prime Minister, has explained this repeatedly.<\/p>\n

\"DrDr Jacqueline Rowarth, Adjunct Professor Lincoln University, is a farmer-elected director on Ravensdown and DairyNZ and a member of the Scientific Council of the World Farmers\u2019 Organisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnalyses show clearly that investment in public research must be in the order of 0.8-1% of GDP such that it sparks adequate private sector engagement.<\/p>\n

\u201cEuropean experience suggests that until public expenditure is more than [about] 0.8%, private sector investment will not increase beyond roughly that of the public sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem continues to be that New Zealand has very few large companies that invest in research \u2013 Fonterra and Zespri are doing their part, as do farmer co-operatives and levy bodies, but overall, this isn\u2019t enough on top of the small Government input. <\/p>\n

And overall, the elephant being overlooked in the funding direction change is the threat to the environment: agriculture and environment are inextricably linked. <\/p>\n

Half of New Zealand\u2019s land is managed by farmers and growers. <\/p>\n

The associated science teams comprise experts in soils, plants, ruminants, insects, diseases, water and air qualities, all of which are related strongly to environmental stewardship. <\/p>\n

Dr Stephen Goldson, emeritus principal scientist with the Bioeconomy Science Institute, says, \u201cScience for farms has a great deal to do with maintenance and conservation of the environment, which imparts resilience to our farmlands. The result of such research has been the ongoing growth in New Zealand\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The environment is obviously rapidly changing both abiotically (eg, weather and climate) and biotically (eg pests and diseases). <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need,\u201d Goldson says, \u201cis funding to ensure that New Zealand\u2019s scientific abilities commensurately fulfil the country\u2019s unique growth opportunities, coupled with research to sustain environmental quality across the New Zealand landscape. Here, there is the great scientific overlap. This must obviously include targeting those sectors that underpin the high-quality protein that our companies market internationally. Doing so will ensure that the outstanding productivity growth, diversification and long\u2011term resilience continues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lifestyle of every New Zealander depends upon what the primary sector achieves \u2013 farmers, growers, rural professionals and scientists working towards the common goal of New Zealand\u2019s good.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, Adjunct Professor Lincoln University, is a farmer-elected director on Ravensdown and DairyNZ and a member of the Scientific Council of the World Farmers\u2019 Organisation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This means that any attempt at \u201cbalancing\u201d will result in some areas suffering severe losses \u2013 so severe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4500,1952,3278,738,63570,111,43,139,69,3272,6177,7192,63571,147,12975,44979],"class_list":{"0":"post-391256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-changes","9":"tag-dr","10":"tag-facts","11":"tag-funding","12":"tag-jacqueline","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-nzs","18":"tag-primary","19":"tag-risk","20":"tag-rowarth","21":"tag-science","22":"tag-sector","23":"tag-undermining"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}