Milestones for research sector

08-03-2010 | Terry Tacon

Last week provided two milestones for New Zealand's research community - the opening of a greenhouse gas research centre and the presentation of the review by the Crown Research Institute Taskforce.

Increasing agriculture's ability to create wealth for NZ in a carbon constrained world is the mission of the NZ Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre opened by the Prime Minister John Key in Palmerston North at AgResearch's Grasslands campus.

The centre is a partnership between AgResearch, DairyNZ, Landcare Research, Lincoln University, Massey University, NIWA, Plant & Food Research, the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium (PGgRc) and Scion.

Centre Director Dr Harry Clark welcomed the opening of the facility. ‘"The centre will lead and co-ordinate research to reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions and to increase the rates of soil carbon accumulation. This research will underpin the development of novel, credible and cost-effective low greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting production systems that provide farmers with practical options for reducing emissions," Clark said.

"While agriculture creates about half of NZ's GHG emissions, it also generates around 44% of NZ's merchandise export earnings and so is a critical contributor to NZ's livelihood. The challenge is for the centre to find ways for NZ to meet its international GHG emission obligations without reducing agricultural output."

The review of Crown Research Institutes has recommended less emphasis on commercial returns and more control of their funding.

The CRI Taskforce said too much of the income for the eight research bodies came from short-term, contestable money which could leave a big proportion of funding at risk and undermine the ability to operate strategically.

The CRIs, which collectively employ 4400 people, receive nearly $500 million from the government but have to compete for much of it. Other funding sources include research funds and the private sector.

Taskforce chairman Neville Jordan said the taskforce believed the funding system had pushed competition as far as it could as a means of driving efficiency.

"The recommendations will stabilise costs, establish a much improved investment outlook for CRIs and reinvigorate NZ's scientific environment."

AgResearch chairman Sam Robinson called the recommendations "visionary and courageous" and said they represented the most significant changes since the CRIs were established in 1992.

  Printable View