Plant And Food Research

Can New Zealand grow peanuts suitable for peanut butter? Eight varieties are being trialed in Northland and one looks particularly promising... Audio

New Zealand is the third largest producer of kiwifruit in the world. But in November 2010, that looked to change when kiwifruit vines across the country became ravaged by the bacterial disease PSA. It… Audio

Plant and Food Research has developed an environmentally-friendly spray to help fend off the kiwifruit vine killing disease PSA. Audio

Plant and Food Research would like to empower the development of a much larger bumblebee industry in New Zealand. It has developed the technology to successfully breed bumblebees, now it wants… Audio

Russell Lowe has spent almost 50 years selecting, observing, propagating and tasting kiwifruit at Plant and Food Research in Te Puke. Earlier this year Russell was recognised for his role in… Audio

The health benefits of blackcurrants have been studied for years - now New Zealand scientists have found they can improve sports performance. Audio

Plant and Food Research is working the the Middle East to help an environment agency there know how much water can be safely allocated to date plantations. It's an extension of the work it has been… Audio

Professor Max Suckling has been to Italy to see the devastation in crops caused by the brown marmorated stink bug. He's been looking at ways of trapping the bug and other controls that could help… Audio

A Plant and Food Research principal scientist says measuring devices that look like giant rain gauges have been buried under crops all around the country to track the amount of nitrogen flowing into… Audio

A Plant and Food Research principal scientist John Monro says if some carbohydrates in a meal are swapped out for kiwifruit it will help reduce blood glucose levels. Audio

Plant and Food Research is using new technologies, including arificial intelligence and sensing technologies, to help detect a damaging virus that secretly takes hold in grape vines. Audio, Gallery

Graeme Clare oversees a bark beetle breeding programme that is crucial to protecting the NZ forestry sector. His team supplies thousands of beetles and eggs for fumigation trials - which aim to reduce… Audio

There are some jobs that you just wouldn't mind having – Dr Roger Harker's is one. Part of his job is finding out what people like to eat and drink... and why. As head of the Consumer & Product… Audio

Plant and Food Research scientists are collaborating with partners in Vietnam to boost that country's dragonfruit industry. They've found a way to train the plants that could double production. Audio

Plant and Food Research is trialing a radically new way of growing trees. It is training them to grow like candelabra. Audio

Blueberries, kiwiberries, boysenberries, loganberries... well, there might soon be another one to add to the mix – the snowberry. Trials are underway to see if there's potential for a commercial… Audio

A 100-strong team of researchers from Plant and Food Research have won the 2017 Prime Minister's Science Prize for using science to solve the kiwifruit PSA crisis. Audio

New Zealand apple experts are working with growers in Himachal Pradesh to improve production of the region's apple trees. Audio