{"id":44165,"date":"2021-06-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/22m-plantain-project-launched\/"},"modified":"2021-06-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T12:00:00","slug":"22m-plantain-project-launched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/22m-plantain-project-launched\/","title":{"rendered":"$22m plantain project launched"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Associate Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri says it was one of the largest partnerships being funded since the fund\u2019s establishment in late 2018.<\/p>\n

Whaitiri announced the project, called the Plantain Potency Programme, at Fieldays.<\/p>\n

She says the programme fits well with the Fit For a Better World \u2013 Accelerating our Economic Potential roadmap, which was launched last year to further boost productivity, sustainability and jobs in the food and fibre sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cInnovation will continue to play a vital part in the success of the food and fibre sector for helping us to grow value in a way that respects te taiao \u2013 our natural world,\u201d Whaitiri said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat includes protecting our waterways and improving freshwater quality. That\u2019s why we\u2019re so excited about this programme, plantain shows great promise as a low cost forage solution to nitrate leaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis programme is expected to demonstrate plantain\u2019s efficacy at scale, so farmers have the confidence they need to invest in pasture and practice change.\u201d<\/p>\n

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle says modelling by DairyNZ forecasts a potential reduction of 15,000 tonnes of nitrate leached on 4200 dairy farms per year by 2035.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is our target, a 37% reduction from current levels,\u201d Mackle said.<\/p>\n

Plantain use is predicted to lead to flow-on benefits to national and regional economies.<\/p>\n

This is due to farmers spending less on other nitrate leaching solutions, therefore having more money to spend on goods and services. It is expected to save farmers more than $1 billion per decade.<\/p>\n

The programme will focus on improving plantain\u2019s effectiveness across regions and soil types through farm-scale trials.<\/p>\n

These trials will include experiments at Lincoln and Massey universities, which will measure nitrate leaching under plantain pasture compared to perennial ryegrass, to confirm reductions in leaching.<\/p>\n

The trials will also confirm the proportion of plantain required in the pasture to achieve nitrogen loss reductions, determine the effects of different soil and climate conditions, and capture any changes in farm profit between the systems.<\/p>\n

If proven successful, the project partners will work with farmers nationwide to help them adopt plantain onto their farms, measure outcomes and demonstrate success to other farmers.<\/p>\n

The programme will focus on Ecotain, a plantain cultivar developed by PGG Wrightson Seeds, which could reduce nitrate-leaching by at least 20%.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately it\u2019s going to give farmers the confidence to invest in plantain as a key animal feed across their farms in New Zealand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The programme will also include a generic plantain evaluation system that will link to tools for farmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe programme\u2019s first priority will be making sure we have substantial and robust scientific proof that Ecotain markedly reduces nitrate leaching at both the paddock and farm system scale, with no or minimal negative effects on farm profitability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will also ensure there are no risks to animal health or welfare,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Farmers had been under pressure to manage their environmental footprint and if they were to be successful in meeting those challenges, it had to invest in tools that helped it reduce their footprint, while remaining profitable.<\/p>\n

Mackle says this project was a great example of that research.<\/p>\n

Much of the existing research around plantain had been at a component level using lysimeters on paddock plots.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to expand it to the farm level and then look at it right the way through the value chain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new Government-industry programme has been launched to further investigate plantain\u2019s ability to reduce nitrate leaching on New Zealand farms.\nThe $22 million seven-year project will receive $8.98 million from the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFFF) fund, while DairyNZ, Fonterra and PGG Wrightson Seeds are collectively investing around $10.47m and $2.8m for the programme.\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":5353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t