The Government has approved funding for three new primary growth partnership programmes for the seafood and forestry sectors.
It will commit $50 million over the next five to seven years to the three projects, bringing the Government's total investment in primary sector research and innovation over the past 16 months to almost $218 million.
The programmes involve developing new wildfish harvesting technology for the seafood industry, improving the breeding of green shell mussels and finding viable alternatives to the toxic methyl bromide gas used to control pests in log exports.
Agriculture Minister David Carter says the primary growth partnership now extends to all the major primary sectors - meat, dairy, wool, arable, forestry and fishing.
