New Zealand funds $US 4 million for innovative agriculture project

Dragon fruit pack-house in Tien Giang

The government of New Zealand is providing $US 4 million for an innovative agriculture project in Viet Nam’s southern province of Tien Giang to be implemented over the next five years.

The project, financed via the New Zealand Aid Programme is a partnership between NZ agricultural research institute Plant and Food Research and Vietnamese research institutes – SOFRI (Southern Horticulture Research Institute) and SIAEP (Sub-Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Postharvest Technology).

The project will build on Plant and Food Research NZ’s world leading technology and experience developing and commercialising high value fruit varieties including Zespri kiwifruit, Gold kiwifruit, and Jazz apples.

The project will breed a new variety of dragon fruit and develop best practice production, post-production and commercialisation models to increase returns for Vietnamese farmers and SMEs working in post-production and commercialisation.

The processes and technologies used and developed under the project will be able to be applied to any fruit variety and it is the aim of the project to provide a model for future fruit breeding and commercialisation activities in Viet Nam.

“New Zealand has been supporting the agriculture sector in Viet Nam through our aid programme for many years. This project takes that support to another level with NZ and Viet Nam working together to build on NZ’s world leading agricultural technology to develop new fruit varieties that will bring significantly higher returns to farmers” said New Zealand Ambassador to Viet Nam Haike Manning.

The project is due to start implementation in January 2013.