HortNZ pleased by Better Border Biosecurity (B3) Research Collaboration’s win

Horticulture New Zealand – a partner in the Better Border Biosecurity (B3) Research Collaboration – is pleased that the initiative won the New Zealand Biosecurity Science award at the 2022 Biosecurity Awards. 

‘B3 does great things for progressing biosecurity research, and in doing so, helps to protect the commercial fruit and vegetable growing sector,’ says HortNZ Strategy and Risk Policy Team Leader, Anna Rathé. 

‘The collaboration plays a vital role in delivering the scientific knowledge and tools required for New Zealand’s biosecurity system to be resilient and world leading. To be specific, B3 researches ways to reduce the entry and establishment of new plant pests and diseases in New Zealand. 

‘This is why the collaboration’s work is so important to our sector and why HortNZ is a B3 partner, along with Māori, crown research institutes, universities, and government agencies with operational border biosecurity needs.’

Recent B3 research projects span risk assessment, managing biosecurity threat pathways into the country, diagnosis of threats, and the science behind ongoing surveillance and eradication. The B3 collaboration has undertaken more than 15 years of science work to protect plants, providing tangible benefits to the primary sector and wider New Zealand.