Agriculture's 'failure' the place to view its next 20 years of success - conference
By Peter Kerr for sticK
(sticK - 22 Sept 2011 ) One of the great ironies of the New Zealand economy is that in spite of Knowledge Waves and transformations and biotechnology and any other number of next big things, the powerhouse and backbone has continued to be agriculture and horticulture.
For industries that have been described as 'sunset' the fact they've increased their percentage economic contribution over the past 20-30 years shows they are anything but.
There's also a good economic argument that 'innovation' (no matter how you describe it), is best done by building on the back of something you're already good at.
Which is part of the logic, presentations and discussion behind the NZ Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science's Forum in Wellington's Te Papa on Tuesday October 4? (See here for more details).
For sticK – science, technology, innovation & commercialisation KNOWLEDGE - is a new Wellington based news service concentrating on following the money from ideas to income. Contact editor Peter Kerr at peter.kerr055 @ gmail.com