Media Release

27 February 2006

AgResearch Welcomed Back On Track

New Zealand First welcomes the shift in focus back to agriculture in AG Research’s new 14-year strategy.

"The acknowledgement that AgResearch, New Zealand’s largest Crown Research Institute, is shifting its focus back from general life sciences to New Zealand’s core activities is both welcome and overdue," said agriculture spokesman Doug Woolerton.

"This is belated recognition that New Zealand is no longer the world's lowest cost dairy producing country and that the industry has to increase productivity if it wants to stay a competitive player in the world market.

The “2020 Science” strategy includes ways forward for all industries and focuses to double the value of dairy, meat and fibre production while halving the costs and the environmental impact.

“This new strategy identifies profitable solutions for problems while maintaining the focus on the pastoral sector’s sustainability. Successive National and Labour governments have long under-funded vital research and seriously undermined our comparative advantage. We welcome this return to sanity," said Mr. Woolerton.

ENDS

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