Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) chief executive Nick Pyke made it clear that now was the time to act.
Pyke said the NZ cropping industry must capitalise on its unique advantages and identify opportunities to grow new crops that maximised returns to growers and in turn supported a sustainable industry.
The NZ arable industry currently produced a range of grains and seeds, many of which were commodity crops.
It was world leading in many areas with some of the highest crop and seed yields of a number of species in the world as well as being a world leader in both herbage and vegetable seed production.
FAR had a part to play in the success of the industry by ensuring it was undertaking high quality research with outcomes that could be implemented to growers to keep them as world leaders.
FAR’s five-year strategy 2017-2021 was set around making cropping the highest sustainable land use for NZ farmers.
But Pyke said the cropping industry may be very different in the future and understanding NZ’s competitive advantage would be a crucial factor in adapting to the future challenges.
“We have a temperate climate supported by high quality soils, plentiful water, skilled farmers and ongoing technological developments.
“These factors place the cropping industry in an excellent position to produce new high-value foods for international markets and provide an economically and environmentally sustainable farming option for NZ,” he said.
Food trends were changing rapidly.
“A few years ago the Impossible Burger, made from plant protein, seemed unlikely, now it’s a reality, as are other unique plant-based foods.”
Some recent work FAR had been involved with had identified six possible areas that may have potential on NZ cropped land.
These were nutritional beverages, ancient grains, high value oils, plant proteins, durable water containing crops and some native species.
“To progress we need to select some promising options based on market needs and then ensure that the right business model is developed to capture the value along the value chain.”
While it would be easy to rule out some crops, Pyke said deciding on possible contenders would be more difficult.
So what are the foods of the future?
Will NZ be an exporter of freshwater-containing products to a water short Australia?
Will it be the best beverage hub in the world with a choice of animal milks, vegetable-based juices, cereal-based milks and a wide range of teas?
“Will we capitalise on our ability to produce and process plant and animal proteins so that the NZ Possible Burger contains both animal and plant products?
“The rapid pace of change in food production and food trends indicates we need to act now.
“We need the investment in production and processing research, transport, business models and marketing,” Pyke said.
Generally NZ had adequate water for crop production but this was not the case in most countries of the world.
It was estimated that by 2025, 60% of the world’s population would live in countries with water stress.
“Further to this, water for irrigation needs to increase by 11% worldwide to meet the demand for food and climate change would further increase demand for, and reduce the supply of, water in many areas.”
There were very few agricultural exporting countries where water extraction did not exceed supply. NZ was one of these.
“The questions we need to ask are why do we extract value, the water, before we sell many of our products.
“Are we ignoring a huge opportunity to supply products containing water to the world?”
Pyke said the positive attributes of irrigation in cropped soil, backed by good quality science, were unlikely to be quoted in the mainstream media, but cropping was a responsible user of water and nutrients.
Another strength for NZ was its people.
“Our farmers are highly skilled and able to achieve high yields and high quality across a range of well over 40 different species of crops.
“This means that the industry should have no problems producing potential new export crops which are suited to our climate, or producing existing crops to new specifications.”
Now was a good time to act – next year may be too late, Pyke said.
