Cream of the crop of NZ's Maori horticulturists

Its largest orchard operation is situated near Hastings in the Hawke's Bay. This is a large-scale, well-run horticultural business with a total planted area of 106ha in 2022 - mostly G3 and the remainder in apples. The land was purchased by the trust in 2017 and complements its other kiwifruit operation in Kerikeri and in the Bay of Plenty, where the head office of the trust is situated.

The Heretaunga kiwifruit operations are unique in that they are entirely covered by overhead cloth. It is the largest area of overhead shelter in the country, offering protection against wind and hail, whilst the Hawke's Bay's winter provides optimal chilling and the potential for organic production in the future.

Ngai Tukairangi Trust was a finalist in the inaugural 2020 horticulture competition with its Matapihi orchard near Tauranga.

Māori Investments Ltd (MIL) is based in Kawerau. Its orchards (Whiritoa) are located in Te Teko. Whiritoa Orchards were purchased in 2016 and 2017.

The first orchard to be purchased was Whiritoa Organic (215B Galatea Road) and is approximately 5.37 hectares in size growing organic gold kiwifruit. The second orchard is Whiritoa Gold (207 Galatea Road) approximately 6.84 canopy hectares, located beside Whiritoa Organic.

MIL undertook significant work to remove some structures over the canopy, and both orchards are managed in accordance with tikanga Māori. It currently employs seven permanent staff on orchard. All seasonal workers are local and contractors only come in during the harvest season. The orchards can employ up to 20 fixed term employees during the peak seasons.

Located in Gisborne, Wi Pere Trust Horticulture consists of 79ha of permanent fruit crops.

This area is made up of 26ha of Gold kiwifruit (11ha of which is organic), 4ha of persimmons, 15ha of citrus, 4ha of blueberries and 20ha of Rockitt and 10ha Tarzi of apples. Three separate orchards combine to make up the diverse horticultural operation: Toroa orchard at Waerenga-a-Hika, Tangihanga orchard at Waituhi and Manutuke orchard at Manutuke.

How They Coped With The Cyclone

All of the finalists suffered some damage from the cyclone, but the worst hit was Ngai Tukairanga Trust's operations near Hastings.

Chair Ratahi Cross says the storm that hit Hawke's Bay was far worse than Cyclone Bola many years ago. He knows this because he was part of the organisation dealing with that event.

Cross told Hort News the trust's initial response has been to make sure that their staff and families were safe, appropriately cared for and had all the basic necessities they needed.

He adds that its orchard in Hawke's Bay was badly hit and estimates damage to be somewhere between $35m and $40m. However, he adds that it could nearly a year to get a final number on the damage.

Cross says it depends on a number of factors including how kiwifruit survive with water and silt lying around them for any length of time. He believes that vines that are not badly damaged could be back in production within a year, while it may up to three years to get other vines back in production.

Also damaged is the covering over the vines, which was dramatically illustrated when Cross met with Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to see the problem for himself. Cross says they are looking at some sort of financial support from the Government to help them over the next couple of years until they can get back on their feet.

Wi Pere's operations are based near Gisborne. General manager of horticulture, Wayne Hall, says their main concern is the silt which is around their trees and vines.

He says there is a risk of the plants suffering from 'wet feet' but he is hopeful the water drains away quickly and the silt can be removed. He adds that the timeframe to do this is quite narrow.

Kawerau’s Maori Investments Ltd (MIL) team L-R: Rex Anderson (Property Manager), Helen Scott (Orchard Manager) & Ray Hiki (Orchard Supervisor).

Hall says they have enough staff and equipment to deal with that and have also been able to harvest apples from the main orchard. He says the worst affected appear to be their younger trees. Hall says their kiwifruit is in a different location and is not damaged. 

"We are very lucky compared with a lot of others," he told Hort News. "Our biggest problem was we had no comms for five days - so just not knowing what was happening was the main concern."

MIL's orchard manager Helen Scott told Hort News that it's operation, near the eastern Bay of Plenty town of Te Teko, escaped much of Cyclone Gabrielle's wrath.

But she says they were hit by a hail storm and last year suffered damage from the big frost that hit that region. Because of the rain throughout the past months, they have concerns about their kiwifruit vines suffering from 'wet feet'.

Scott says the effects of the bad weather have been depressing and the challenge has been keeping staff to be upbeat and positive in these difficult times.