New Zealand plant breeding companies have challenged the view of a visiting British plant scientist who said this country has no system to independently assess the performance of new pasture varieties.
Dr Pete Wilkins headed a research programme at Aberystwyth University in Wales which developed new high sugar rye grasses now used on a number of New Zealand farms.
Dr Wilkins says New Zealand farmers using the grasses here have reported production gains, but says it's difficult for them to get objective guidance on new varieties because there's no national independent body testing and assessing them.
However, the New Zealand Plant Breeding & Research Association, representing seed and pasture research companies, says that's not correct.
Vice-president Dr Brian Patchett says it's been running an evaluation system for grass varieties that's been developed over the past 30 years.
He says about 70 trials have been run under this system over the years, from Keri Keri in the north to Woodlands in the south.
Dr Patchett says it's built up a database on comparative grass varieties available in New Zealand.
He says when competitors are joining to do something collaboratively, they're looking very closely at each others trials and data.
The data is then sent for independent analysis by a statistician and that's the basis on which the lists are drawn up and made available to the public.
Dr Patchett says the results of the trials are available on the New Zealand Plant Breeding and Research Association website.
