Damage to country's vegetable crops still being calculated
Local vegetable growers are in full “clean up, tidy up” mode, says Pukekohe Vegetable Growers’ Association (PVGA) president, Kirit Makan.
However, this time properties more to the east and around Bombay, which had escaped the worst of the earlier rains, received 100mm more.
There was some wind damage around the outsides of potato paddocks which was mainly cosmetic and some further reworking of cultivated paddocks needed to be carried out, adding extra costs. But growers’ thoughts were mainly with their Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne counterparts where some were estimating damage to 60% of the range of crops they grew.
Potatoes New Zealand says it's too early to say what damage there will be to this year’s potato crop. They could appear fine at harvesting over the next few months but further down the track in storage water damage might be revealed.
While some Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne squash crops have survived the concern halfway through the export season is also quality issues.
Elliot Callender, business manager of the NZ Buttercup Squash Export Council, says there were shipping delays from Napier while the port was closed and squash needed to be trucked to Tauranga for its two-week voyage to the major market, Japan. But this impact was insignificant compared with additional losses which were expected due to quality problems caused by above average rainfall followed by Cyclone Gabrielle.
“Our fingers are crossed. But there will be quality challenges.”
There were hopes that export markets worth just over $50 million annually would react positively to the reduced supply.
Around 30 avocado growers in the Whangarei area suffered the worst damage on their 330ha of orchards, says NZ Avocado chief executive, Jen Scoular. The Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay regions make up only 20 to 30ha of the 4500ha planted across the country. While damage was immediately apparent some wouldn’t be known until next year.
“If younger trees are blown over, they can be restaked within a day,” she says.
“But with the wind, growers couldn’t do that for three or four days.”
While some fruit had been blown off trees there were also fears some new season’s fruit wouldn’t grade as Class 1 after being damaged by being knocked together. There could also be water damage to trees caused before and during the cyclone, which wouldn’t be known until flowering and fruit set in October.
Scoular says it was “fantastic” the Government was acting quickly with its initial support package.
But significant further funding requirements also had to be recognised.
“And let’s not forget the mental stress this is taking after the last three years,” she says. “We’re a resilient lot but you can only push that so far.”
