increase font size
Pukekohe fresh produce grower Kirit Makan using the new Vegetables New Zealand Weather & Disease Portal on his property.
Commercial vegetable growers now have access to a new tech tool designed to support decision making and better management of common New Zealand plant diseases, including Downy Mildew.
The Vegetables New Zealand (VNZ) Weather & Disease Portal, launched in April, provides weather forecasts and easy-tounderstand information about disease risk. It does this by combining data from a nationwide network of weather stations with disease models from leading New Zealand researchers. The tool is available to all commercial vegetable growers via the ‘Weather & Disease’ button on the VNZ website, www.freshvegetables.co.nz.
“We are thrilled to be making this tool available to our growers. Weather plays a crucial role in the production of vegetables and having readily available, accurate information helps our growers make informed decisions around crop activities,” VNZ research, development & extension manager Daniel Sutton says.
One of the many growers who will benefit is Kirit Makan, who grows onions, potatoes, leeks, pumpkins and butternuts on his 50-hectare property in Pukekohe.
“I’ll be looking at it each week to get good weather information. It’s another great tool that will help us make good decisions around the weather and the disease pressures we are likely to face at different times of year,” Makan says.
The portal was developed in collaboration with kiwi agri-tech experts HortPlus – a company with 25 years of experience developing weather and disease platforms for agriculture.
“We’re excited at the potential the weather and disease portal offers and can’t wait to see the impact it has across New Zealand’s vegetable industry,” says HortPlus director Mike Barley.
The platform will be launching initially with weather and forecasting tools as the focus.
“However, there is potential to add more pest and disease models to further support the kinds of data-driven decisions that can reduce crop losses, increase productivity and drive positive sustainability outcomes through more targeted agrichemical use,” Barley adds.
He says Vegetables New Zealand serviced a diverse industry representing growers of more than 55 different crop types, so the potential for future crop-specific additions to the portal was “immense”.
The Metwatch Platform that powers the VNZ Weather & Disease Portal is also used by a range of other sectors, from kiwifruit, summer fruit, to apples and arable crops, with different tools and crop-specific pest and disease models for each.
Barley believes there are opportunities to enable integration between the Vegetables New Zealand portal and the weather and disease portals used by other industries such as Onions New Zealand and Foundation for Arable Research, recognising that many vegetable growers also grow other crops.
In addition to growers, the portals are also used by researchers and agronomists for more advanced modelling and data insight.
The arrival of new F8 and F9 designations for its 8000 and 9000 series forage harvesters, signals a swag of upgrades from John Deere, highlighted by topping the 1000hp mark for the first time.
Waikato-Bay of Plenty farmer Hugh Jackson recently secured this year’s FMG Young Farmer of the Year title in Invercargill.
Ashburton-based Carrfields has signed an agreement with Manitou to take over the distribution and retail rights for Manitou Agricultural Equipment covering the lower North Island and the South Island, effective August 1, 2025.
With June ending and following the most upbeat National Fieldays for several years, tractor dealers are reporting a lift in sales.
Samasz distributor FarmShop has introduced the new XDF Series Front Mowers, said to be refined for local conditions and to improve cutting precision and wear resistance.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.
