Canterbury is set to benefit from a $20 million investment in agri-business education and research aimed at keeping New Zealand's agricultural sector innovative, market-focused and an export leader.
Partnership for Excellence is a collaborative project between Lincoln University and Massey University, the Tertiary Education Commission as well as a range of agricultural and horticultural organisations Dairy InSight, Dexcel, Fonterra Ltd, AGMARDT, Meat and Wool New Zealand, The Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, NZ Fruitgrowers Association, as well as the NZ Vegetable and Potato Growers Association (Vegfed).
"Agriculture still provides the bulk of New Zealand's exports, worth around $17 billion a year, in large part due to the highly efficient and scientific nature of our farms and agri-businesses," says Tom Lambie, Lincoln University Chancellor.
"Partnership for Excellence will help ensure that New Zealand's next generation of farmers, farm scientists and agri-business leaders are equipped to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive and complicated world marketplace".
The $20 million in funding will cover the first three years of the project, with about half coming from the agri-business industry and about half from the Tertiary Education Commission.
"The agricultural industry is extremely pleased at this new collaboration and we have received huge support from throughout the industry," says Tom Lambie.
Lincoln University Vice Chancellor Professor Roger Field says that by working collaboratively, Lincoln and Massey Universities are ensuring that the funding is used as effectively as possible without any duplication of effort.
"This is one of the key reasons why the agricultural industry is getting involved and ready to provide such significant funding".
"In real terms, we believe Partnership for Excellence will improve both Lincoln's and Massey's capacity to undertake market-focused agricultural research and deliver excellent teaching".
"The agricultural industry needs the best and brightest minds to ensure that it can meet the many challenges that the New Zealand agricultural industry is going to face in the coming years, including new sustainability and environmental standards, to ensure ongoing access to world markets".
"Partnership for Excellence will allow us to attract more students to study agri-business by providing new and more targeted courses, as well as increased funding for research projects. We have been careful, however, not to be prescriptive and are waiting for industry input before deciding what teaching and research projects should go ahead".
"There will, however, be a big focus on potential career paths for agri-business students," says Professor Field.
Partnership for Excellence is expected to result in more students choosing to study agricultural science.
The collaboration between the two universities will allow better alignment of research programmes.
Other aims of the Partnership for Excellence project will be to:
Provide professional development opportunities for farmers and farm-workers
Lift the global recognition of the excellence of New Zealand agriculture
Over the next six months Lincoln and Massey Universities, industry partners, and the TEC will work together on establishing the structure and governance for the new partnership. This will include setting up a trust that will administer and monitor the funding applications.
"Agricultural teaching and research is under-funded in New Zealand. Partnership for Excellence will help to meet the demand for high-level quality agri-business programmes, as well as ensure that New Zealand agriculture can continue to grow and meet the demands of world markets," concluded Professor Field.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
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