Tuesday, 11 October 2022 10:25

Only one piece of the puzzle

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Hort NZ says protecting productive land is just one of the ingredients for growers to deliver fresh healthy food to New Zealanders. Hort NZ says protecting productive land is just one of the ingredients for growers to deliver fresh healthy food to New Zealanders.

Productive land is just one of the ingredients for growers to deliver fresh healthy food to New Zealanders, says Horticulture NZ.

Together with productive land, growers need labour, less compliance and lower input costs, says Hort NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley.

She made these comments following the Government's recently released National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL), designed to protect the country's most productive land and providing security for both domestic food supply and primary exports.

According to Tunley, HortNZ has been advocating for nearly a decade for government policy that recognises the importance of the best soils and ensures that they are prioritised for what they are best for - producing healthy vegetables and fruit.

"All along we have said that with good planning, New Zealand can have fresh vegetables and fruit, and houses," she says.

Tunley notes that HortNZ will continue its advocacy to ensure that growers can sustainably and profitably use highly productive land.

"Our fight will go on. It's no use protecting our best land if growers cannot get access to inputs like freshwater, are bogged down with compliance, and can't afford fertiliser or to transport their produce," she adds.

"At the same time, growers need to know they have a skilful and reliable workforce available to plant, pick and pack. We also need to ensure that growers can afford to invest in new growing methods, in response to climate change."

Tunley says growers only need ongoing issues in one of these areas for their viability to be compromised, which could mean vegetables and fruit cannot be sustainably grown in New Zealand in the future.

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor points out that over the last 20 years, about 35,000 hectares of highly productive land has been carved up for urban or rural residential development - 170,000ha of this has been converted to lifestyle blocks.

"Once land is built on, it can no longer be used to grow food and fibre. That's why we are moving to protect our most fertile and versatile land, especially in our main food production areas like Auckland, Waikato, Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua and Canterbury," O'Connor says.

He says highly productive land provides food for New Zealanders, significant economic and employment benefits to communities and underpins the value of New Zealand's primary sector.

"Our Fit for a Better World roadmap that we developed with the sector will add $44 billion over 10 years to our primary sector exports but is dependent on maintaining access to our highly productive soils," he notes.

He claims the NPS-HPL enhances protection for highly productive land giving farmers, growers, and other food producers certainty into the future, and provide greater economic security for all.

More like this

Bridging the gap with rural New Zealand

OPINION: One thing I keep hearing from rural New Zealanders is the importance of relationships. Strong relationships don’t just happen - they take trust, consistency, and time.

NZ growers lead freshwater compliance

Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) says that commercial fruit and vegetable growers are getting ahead of freshwater farm plan regulations through its Growing Change project.

Featured

LIC Space folds for good

Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.

Editorial: Time for common sense

OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).

National

Machinery & Products

Yamaha acquires Robotics Plus

New Zealand based company Robotics Plus, a specialist in agricultural automation, has announced an agreement for it to be acquired…

Ecorobotix announces NZ dealership

Swiss-based Ecorobotix has announced its entry into the New Zealand market through a strategic partnership with Canterbury-based New Zealand Tractors.

Sorting unwashed potatoes made easy

Downs, a leader in potato reception, automated sorting, and storage, has introduced its new high-throughput optical sorter for unwashed potatoes…

Jumbo X saves time and money

A winner of a prestigious ‘Technical Innovations 2024’ award by FederUnacoma at the EIMA show in Italy, the Maschio Jumbo…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Are they serious?

OPINION: The Greens aren’t serious people when it comes to the economy, so let’s not spend too much on their…

A hurry up!

OPINION: PM Chris Luxon is getting pinged lately for rolling out the old 'we're still a new government' line when…

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter