On-farm nitrogen (N) management, reduced use of agrichemicals in onion production, pest management in strawberries, and management of avocado fruit quality are amongst the seven proposals selected for the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) latest funding round for which Plant & Food Research will be providing research support.
These projects will attract a total of $4.2 million of SFF and collaborating partners’ funds over the course of three years.
One of the projects is "Development of an industry Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy": Current practices to manage thrips in strawberries are heavily reliant on non-selective insecticides. This Plant & Food Research-led project aims to increase knowledge and develop and implement new tools and techniques to manage thrips in strawberry productions. It will empower growers to adopt production-wide IPM strategies for more sustainable and profitable growing and future-proofing thrips management in strawberries. This is a collaboration with Berryworld Ltd., Strawberries New Zealand and the agrichemical industry.