One of the country's top research institutes is warning a lack of funding will have serious consequences for long-term agricultural research.
Lincoln University has missed out after funding by the Tertiary Education Commission was allocated to Otago and Auckland Centres of Research Excellence, as well as one in Wellington, at Victoria University.
The director of the Bio-Protection Research Centre at Lincoln University, Travis Glare, says the loss means a third of its funding has been cut.
He says it will not be able to do the basic research that is needed to create long-term solutions to deal with problems such as the fruit fly.
For example, Mr Glare said research done five to 10 years ago on the insect at Lincoln is now being applied to combat the pest every time it arrives in the country, but that type of future proofing research will now be cut back.
Massey University's Allan Wilson Centre has also lost out after being funded for the past 12 years.
The university said the centre's research on topics such as water quality and ancestry is important to New Zealand and the centre would now have to look at alternative funding avenues.
The commission said money is given to the top researchers and only 22 percent of applicants were successful.