Regional MSI funding to open global markets
Manawatu entrepreneur will use investment to develop new precision seeding technology.
Thursday, August 04 2011 || Investment || BY Nicole Bennik, Manawatu Standard
Baker No-Tillage chief executive Dr John Baker was awarded $73,000 in investment funding from the Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Regional Business Partner Network R&D funding scheme, and will use it to develop new technology in specialist precision seeding.
"This particular project opens a new market we have not been in," Baker said.
"It opens up the corn market in the United States, which sows 30 million hectares a year."
New Zealand sows one million hectares of seed a year.
The new technology can also be used for sugar beet, soya bean and cotton crops.
American, European and Australian companies have shown interest in the no-tillage seed drill, which offers an alternative to traditional ploughing methods that release carbon into the atmosphere.
A former Massey University scientist, Baker began work on the drill in 1967.
His no-tillage seeding system, which puts seeds in the ground with the fertiliser they need without having to first cultivate the field, led to the formation of the company in 1995.
"We started from nothing. Essentially, we were only scientists and started from scratch."
Baker No-Tillage began as a stand-alone entity in 1995 with three staff members.
Now, the company employs 10 staff and has a turnover of $3 million a year, selling products to 17 countries.
It also takes in French engineering interns every year.
About 90 per cent of the company's product is sold overseas.
Its main market has been the grain market, developing drills to plant small seeds such as wheat and barley.
The Bio Commerce Centre is the Manawatu partner in the Regional Business Partner Network.
