The venture announced yesterday by Agriculture Minister Todd McClay will roll up more than 15 years of pioneering research into one entity, to support a stronger focus on vaccine development and attract international funding to help deliver a world-first solution to market.
Research progress to date led by AgResearch scientists has been supported by the New Zealand government and New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, and by farmers through the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium.
This new venture follows AgriZeroNZ's earlier commitment of up to $1.5 million into the methane vaccine development programme while it explored ways to accelerate it.
It is now investing an additional $1 million to set up the new venture which will operate as a standalone entity but continue to be co-funded by AgriZeroNZ.
AgriZeroNZ Director Fraser Whineray says: “A methane vaccine is highly sought-after as a low cost, high-impact solution to reduce agricultural emissions and Kiwi scientists have done some ground-breaking work in this space over the years. We're confident this new venture will significantly boost their work and help get the vaccine into farmers’ hands sooner".
**AgriZeroNZ is a world-first public-private joint venture focused on helping farmers cut emissions while maintaining their competitive edge**
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