SUE O'DOWD
A Taranaki entrepreneur's dream to develop manuka honey into a billion-dollar industry has attracted government funding of $850,000.
The Government has announced the funding over seven years as part of a $1.7 million partnership with Manuka Research Partnership (NZ) Ltd and Te Puke healthcare company Comvita.
Neil Walker, of Hawera, is managing director of Manuka Research Partnership, a consortium that consists of Nukuhau Carbon Ltd, owned by Mr Walker, Taihape apiarist Don Tweeddale, who owns more than 17,000 beehives, and Wairarapa sheep and beef farmer Dan Riddiford.
Manuka Research Partnership and Comvita want to find out what affects yields and activity levels in manuka honey - commercially described as the Unique Manuka Factor (UMF) - and to increase the reliability of supply and the amount of medical-grade manuka honey.
New research in Britain suggests manuka honey could play a role in the battle against antibiotic-resistant superbugs. The findings show that some manuka honey has unique antibacterial properties, the exact origins of which are yet to be fully understood.
The New Zealand manuka honey industry is estimated to be worth $75 million, and the consortium hopes that its research will lead to a billion-dollar industry.
Mr Walker said growth in the market was constrained by the supply of economically accessible, high-activity manuka and a lack of consistency in yield and quality. The aim of the research was to double the number of beehives per hectare, the honey yield per hive, the proportion of medicinal manuka honey and the area of manuka economically accessible to beekeepers.
New Zealand had about a million hectares of erosion-prone pastoral land suitable for manuka plantations, and less than 50,000ha was needed for the programme.
Mr Walker said manuka plantations for honey production were a potential source of income for back country farmers with marginal land. The plantations could also be registered in the Emissions Trading Scheme.
"Manuka is no longer a weed. It's a valuable crop that can last for 80 years. Farmers can either let it regenerate to native bush or farm it to protect it."
He was concerned at the state of back country farms, many of which were reverting to wasteland because farmers were unable to afford fertiliser or to fix fences.
Mr Walker, elected to the Taranaki Regional Council in 1998, is chairman of the policy and planning committee. He has a bachelor of science from Victoria University and a bachelor of business studies from Massey University, is a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry and the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology, and worked for Fonterra and its predecessor, Kiwi Dairies, for 35 years until 2007.
His company, Nukuhau Carbon, owns a 200ha property near Waverley and a 41ha property near Maxwell, where 150,000 eucalypts, pines and native trees will be planted by the end of the year and registered in the ETS. Neither property carries stock.
Thirty hectares of manuka seedlings grown from seed produced by Comvita will be planted in about August on the property near Maxwell, as part of a trial to investigate the effects of sunshine, frost, rainfall and soil types on the production of manuka honey with a high UMF.
Mr Tweeddale and Mr Riddiford will also develop plantations. The three men's company will make the information available to others wanting to invest in plantings for production of manuka honey for medicinal products.
A testing service to identify manuka cultivars for medicinal honey production in different environments is also anticipated.
Comvita chief supply chain officer Nevin Amos said the programme would move the manuka honey industry from wild harvesting to science-based farming, using science to increase the value of the honey, not just the volume.
Comvita has already developed a range of elite manuka cultivars.
Massey University vice- chancellor Steve Maharey said the programme showed New Zealand innovation at its best, with strong business initiatives combining with research and the Government to develop a sustainable industry.
"This project will help develop a high-value industry by cultivating manuka on New Zealand back country, where traditional farming has been challenging. It's a sustainable option for our hill country landowners, and will help meet market demands for medicinal products."
Head of the Institute of Food Nutrition and Human Health at Massey and former Hawera man Richard Archer said the programme would develop knowledge to produce manuka plantations capable of greater yields of honey suitable for medicinal products.
"Our staff will match new cultivars to the growing environments best suited to honey yield and quality. This will include consideration of the effects of soil biota, companion plants and insects. The work will be achieved in glasshouses, in controlled environments, and in the field," he said.
- Taranaki Daily News
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