The Government has approved funding for a new primary growth partnership programme for the honey sector that could see it develop into a billion-dollar industry.
It will commit more than $800,000 over the next seven years to a project that is seeking to improve the reliability of supply and volume of medical grade Manuka honey.
The funding will matched dollar for dollar by industry.
The Ministry of Agriculture says the programme aims to expand the value of manuka products by understanding how local ecosystems affect yields and activity levels in the honey.
It says it could see a 16-fold increase that will grow the sector to a billion dollar industry.
The latest funding takes the total primary growth partnership investment programme to almost $220 million.
