August 2025
A forum last week [August 7] in Christchurch to hear experts discuss opportunities for adopting new gene technologies for plant breeding has been hailed a major success.
The annual forum is organised by the NZ Plant Breeding and Research Association (NZPBRA) which represents plant breeders, intellectual property owners and managers of proprietary agricultural seed.
NZPBRA Chief Executive Sarah Clark says a key objective for this year’s forum was to update members on gene technology use in plant breeding programmes in Australia where legislation has been in place for 25 years.
“We’ve had great feedback from people who attended the forum. Many commented on its timeliness and the insights they gained on how gene technologies are being used in Australia and how our breeders could benefit from being able to use them for plant breeding in NZ,” Clark says.
“For many people in the primary industries, the challenging question is what happens after the breeding; what plants might be grown in New Zealand, where and how do we get the benefit without forfeiting existing advantages, such as trading on our GMO-free status?
“So, it was timely to hear how the Australian agriculture industry stakeholders collaborated to agree on industry practices. Key principles such as market choice and co-existence of conventional and organic crops alongside crops bred using gene technologies have enabled farmers within a coordinated supply chain,” Clark says.
New Zealand’s own Gene Technology Bill 2024 was developed largely on the Australian legislation and had its first reading in Parliament in December last year.
Two speakers at the forum covered the progress, challenges and agreed solutions that have been developed across the Tasman since legislation allowing genetic modification of plants was adopted in 2000.
New Zealand journalist Richard Rennie presented an overview of Australia’s regulatory system, based on his visit there in 2024. He highlighted the slow progress that has been made, with only four genetically altered crop cultivars approved by the regulator since the Australian legislation was enacted.
Visiting Australian consultant David Hudson presented his view of the reasons behind the slow initial uptake and the more rapid progress made in the past few years to allow genetically modified and non-modified crops to co-exist in Australia.
His strong advice to the forum, based on his experience in Australia, was to focus on having ‘Permission to Operate’ by getting alignment from all stakeholders in the value chain, from researchers to breeders, and growers through to consumers.
The Ministry for Business Innovation & Employment’s Science Adviser Professor Emily Parker then gave an outline of work underway to develop the new regulatory regime within the New Zealand’s Gene Technology Bill 2024.
Public consultation on the Bill following its first reading closed in February this year and drew about 15,000 submissions. Parliament’s Health Select Committee was expected to report back in July but this has been postponed until later this month.
Professor Parker anticipated the Bill would be reintroduced in to the House before the end of 2025.
The remainder of the forum was devoted to presentations from experts from the pine tree, kiwifruit, apple and pear, and forage sectors, discussing their present breeding approach based on conventional selection methods, and the opportunities to incorporate gene technologies in the future.
A recurring theme from each of these presentations was the chance to significantly shorten the length of their conventional selection programmes which can take up to 15 years and require massive investment to produce a single new cultivar.
For more information, contact Sarah Clark, 027 323 4307, or visit pbra.co.nz.