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THIS YEAR the Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers' Association celebrates the 10th anniversary of the "Young Fruitgrower of the Year Competition" to be held at the National Horticultural Field Day on Thursday, June 5.
The competition has grown from its early days of a local event at Pernel Orchard to a nationally recognised competition.
The Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers Association initiative is designed to promote the high calibre of skilled young people working in the industry. The overall winner is required to showcase a range of industry, leadership and presentation skills to take out the overall title.
During the National Horticultural Field day, the competitors must demonstrate practical and theory skills as they work through a number of industry sponsored testing stations. At midday, for a little light relief there is a 'horti-sports' section where competitors are challenged to some more quirky tasks.
The competition concludes with an formal dinner on Friday night on June 6, following the National Horticultural Field Days where contestants participate in a quiz and then present to the audience on a given industry subject.
The Young Fruitgrower Competition is open to all people currently involved the fruit industry who are under 30 years of age. The title is hotly contested with winners often returning to attempt to retain their title two years running and many competitors coming back for more.
The calibre of the contestants is extremely high which makes for a keenly contested competition. The winner of the competition will go on to represent our region at the sector final for the "New Zealand Young Grower of the Year' competition.
Applications are now open for the 2014 competition.
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