New Summerfruit NZ CEO
Dean Smith has been in the role of CEO of Summerfruit NZ for about four months, having succeeded Kate Hellstrom at the end of September.
At the heart of the floods, trust chair Ratahi Cross had a narrow escape from drowning, as the rapidly rising floodwaters rose around him.
Most of the kiwifruit orchard had water through it and was badly damaged. But Cross is hopeful that they will be back to 80% production next year.
How to achieve this is something very dear to his heart. He says the conversations they are having at the moment is about how they recover the plants and bring them back to life.
"Kiwifruit is a very funny plant. It sulks and if it doesn't want to give you fruit for few year it won't," he told Hort News.
"So, what we have to do is encourage it to fruit next year and the year after. For us, it's about loving the plant. That may sound quite funny but Māori and growers generally believe that there is a connection between them and the plant itself," Cross explains.
"People believe plants don't think but we believe they do - so there becomes an attachment between the grower and their baby the plant."
Recovery for Māori is different to other orchardists, Cross claims.
He says they are not asking for much immediate help, but for help in the long haul.
He says Māori have no option but to stay on their land and make sure it is viable for four of five generations in the future.
