Editorial: Connecting science and farming
OPINION: At last, a serious effort to better connect farmers and scientists.
The Director General of MPI, Ray Smith, says the growth in the kiwifruit sector is a massive bounce back.
In MPI's latest outlook report, kiwifruit exports in 2025 will hit nearly $3.5 billion which Smith says is amazing given the problems including adverse weather the sector has had to deal with in the past couple of years.
"Issues such labour shortages, fruit quality issues and ongoing adverse weather conditions. They have done an amazing job despite all the problems they have faced," he says.
Smith says horticulture is now NZ's third largest export earner, having pushed forestry into 4th place and chasing down the meat and wool sector which earns just over $11 billion.
He says another highlight in the SOPI report is the apple sector with export earnings now sitting at just over $1 billion.
He says but for Cyclone Gabrielle, they may well have achieved this goal earlier.
He says people like our apples and see them as a good healthy product.
"With kiwifruit and apples, we now have two very large and developed industries with good technologies going in and good labour supply. We will see good growth this year," he says.
Farmer-owned co-operative Ravensdown is winding down the operations of its agritech subsidiary C-Dax following a long decline in sales.
The recent East Coast Farming Expo, held over two days at Wairoa, offered an insight into the current state of agriculture on the east of the North Island, at a time when the locals are remembering the second anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle.
A Research programme supported by Beef+Lamb NZ is investigating the potential of ‘accelerometer’ sensors for early detection of conditions such as facial eczema (FE) in sheep.
In the past year, the Farmer Time for Schools programme which seeks to connect New Zealand school students with farmers, has experienced further growth.
Fresh Carriers Co. Ltd (FCC) and Zespri have completed the first ever kiwifruit charter powered by a low-emissions fuel.
New Zealand lingerie brand Rose & Thorne is expanding its virtual bra fitting service in an effort to provide rural women in with better access to specialised advice.
OPINION: At last, a serious effort to better connect farmers and scientists.
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