New Zealand-China collaboration in kiwifruit research

Plant & Food Research will be part of a new collaboration with Chinese scientists to advance research that supports the kiwifruit industry.

A new agreement with the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Natural Resource Sciences (SPANRS) will establish the China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory for Kiwifruit Research. This virtual lab will allow scientists from China and New Zealand to collaborate more closely on research with benefit to both countries.

“This agreement will strengthen our relationship with SPANRS and provide access to new information to further our research,” says Plant & Food Research CEO Peter Landon-Lane. “Our on-going collaboration has supported research into various areas, most recently in understanding the kiwifruit disease Psa and how this can be managed. This agreement will allow our scientists to work more closely together and share resources to build knowledge in new areas, including kiwifruit diseases and physiology, and in conservation of the natural germplasm that exists in China, the home of the iconic New Zealand fruit.”

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed during World Science Week New Zealand, at an event attended by officials from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the China Ministry of Science and Technology.