NZ’s agritech sector driving climate action support

Tāmaki Makaurau - The agritech sector remains at the forefront of discussions covering climate action, high value jobs, investment opportunities, global impact and farming practice.

AgriTechNZ has been at the forefront to drive and support agricultural tech innovations.

Farming and food production is transitioning from the outdoors where climate, soil and the grower’s expertise are the keys to productivity,  to an indoor model using technology, data and innovation to drive efficiency and sustainability.

Three New Zealand companies — WayBeyond, BioLumic and Hot Lime Labs — are at the cutting edge of the Aotearoa farming revolution; developing innovative, science-based solutions that are changing the way the world farms.

They are all trying to solve gnarly global problems,  working with the horticulture industry to sustainably grow food to feed the world.

It’s clear many different tools and technologies are needed to address these problems. Farmers want profitable businesses; consumers want nutritious, sustainably produced food. Neither are easy to achieve given the growing climate challenges and other problems facing the sector.

In 2021, the largest 22 agritech companies had a revenue growth of eight percent and export growth of 6.4 percent. Companies with revenues over $200 million grew at a rate of 7.7 percent, while companies with revenues of up to $50 million grew rapidly.

The covid pandemic highlighted another huge problem for the horticulture sector; the over-reliance on immigrant labour.

Closed borders in New Zealand and global travel restrictions meant fruit and vegetables couldn’t be harvested and the resultant price rises added to inflationary pressures and the cost of living crisis around the globe.

Both of these factors have accelerated the interest in automation and innovative technology solutions.

The pandemic also revealed problems with the supply chain, our food system and its frailties,

As well as the natural challenges the sector faces, including climate change, water shortages, soil degradation and the availability of suitable agricultural land, the pandemic highlighted the urgent need to shift away from more traditional, manual and mechanistic farming methods and embrace emerging technologies.

The need for the industry to transform is obvious. New Zealand has to move towards a digital and data driven model that is less reliant on knowledge workers and manual labour. It’s not just about technology; it’s about how NZ farms and grows its food.

New Zealand can feed 40 million people, or five percent of the diet of 800 million people with high quality food.

However, the food supply impact from the Ukrainian war shows how production changes in one region or country impacts on others.

Global food prices continue to strengthen as shortages loom for basic foods such as grains. This means there will also be a shortage of carbohydrates to feed livestock, ANZ research says.