• Research Capabilities
  • Sustainable land and water use
  • High performance plants
    • Breeding for targeted traits
    • Safety of gene biotechnologies
    • Technologies for growing gourmet foods
    • Natural pigments to enhance visual appeal
    • Bioactives from plants and produce
    • Increasing the value of cut flowers and foliage
    • Research programmes
  • Personalised foods
  • High value marine products
  • New biomolecules and biomaterials

High performance plants

We undertake a range of collaborative research programmes in this area. Some examples are highlighted below.

Keeping brassicas free from caterpillar damage - using GM techniques

Keeping brassicas free from caterpillar damage - without the use of synthetic pesticides - is the goal of research being undertaken at Crop & Food Research near Lincoln, Canterbury.

Research leader Dr Mary Christey has produced plants of these species using molecular techniques - genetic modification - so that the natural pesticide produced by the Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria (known as Bt) is produced by the plant.

Crop & Food Research applied to the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) for approval to undertake garden scale field tests in Canterbury of the pest resistant forage kale, cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli.

ERMA New Zealand has approved the application to field test genetically-modified Brassica in the Lincoln region. ERMA has included strict controls to manage the risk of GM material escaping from the site.

> More information on this research.

Enhancing New Zealand's arable-based industries
Conventional and gene transfer techniques will be used to breed novel and improved plants with new grain attributes and functionality for use in innovative food products and biomaterials.

The programme is researching:

1. Developing novel data-mining systems for improving the quality of processed cereal foods.
2. Delivering new options for supplementary feeding of South Island dairy cattle.
3. Developing molecular markers and cereal cultivar selection systems for resistance to pests and diseases.
4. Delivering integrated management systems for the safe production of grains and products.
5. Developing methodology for predicting the performance of intensively managed animals fed on cereal-based diets.

Genetic approaches to sustainable agricultural production
This programme aims to develop new knowledge, technologies and genetic resources for New Zealand's arable, vegetable, pastoral and pipfruit industries by building on previous research in breeding, molecular mapping, pathology, entomology, agronomy and physiology.

The programme has two objectives:
1. To develop new sources of resistance to key NZ diseases and pests of selected arable, vegetable, pastoral and pipfruit crops.

2. To develop new genetic resources for valuable traits in arable and pastoral crops.

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