A new research institute, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, was fromed through the merger of two existing Crown Research Institute (CRI) organizations: HortResearch and Crop & Food Research.
The merger follows a move by the Boards of both CRIs to bring their organizations together and provide greater depth of capability in nationally significant areas of research, including sustainable production, elite genetics and smart breeding, and food and health science.
Plant & Food Research Chief Executive Peter Landon-Lane said the new company would make a key contribution to New Zealand science and to research-based innovation in the primary and food sectors.
“The industries our science underpins: horticulture, arable farming, seafood and the wider food sector, have set themselves tough goals for growth and value enhancement. They expect Plant & Food Research to deliver science that helps them achieve those targets,” he said.