Can't help itself
OPINION: Greenpeace claims that the appointment of Dr John Roche as the PM's Chief Science Advisor is handing the powers to polluters.
Greenpeace has launched a proposal calling for a $1 billion investment in regenerative agriculture.
The organisation has created a plan outlining five key projects that they say the Government should immediately invest in to "begin a transformation of the New Zealand agriculture sector".
Greenpeace campaigner, Genevieve Toop, says serious investment in regenerative agriculture as part of the Government’s post-COVID economic planning could catalyse a much-needed shift.
Toop claims unlike mainstream farming, regenerative agriculture is all about diversity instead of monocultures, building soil health instead of degrading it, and using natural systems instead of “costly and harmful inputs” like chemical fertilisers.
Greenpeace says the practice draws heavily on indigenous knowledge and some common techniques include agroforestry, cover cropping and conservation tillage.
"We know that regenerative agriculture has a whole host of benefits, like more productive and resilient farms that clean up waterways, lock carbon into the soil and nourish whole ecosystems," claims Toop.
Greenpeace also is critical the “millions of dollars spent by previous Governments on intensive agriculture”, which it claims includes “subsidies to increase agri-chemical use and stocking rates, drain wetlands and convert forest into pasture”.
The organisation also criticises the funding of multi-million-dollar infrastructure projects such as a fertiliser factory in Taranaki and several irrigation schemes.
The CEO of Apples and Pears NZ, Karen Morrish, says the strategic focus of her organisation is to improve grower returns.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.
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).
The 2024-25 season apple harvest has “well and truly exceeded expectations”, says Apples and Pears NZ chief executive Karen Morrish.
Through collaborative efforts with exhibitors, visitors, and industry partners, Fieldays says it is reaffirming its commitment to environmental responsibility with new initiatives for 2025.
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