Reliable irrigation crucial to hort sector
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) says access to reliable irrigation water is essential for a thriving horticultural sector.
The snapshot is in response to enquiries about the health of the industry and proposed developments across the country.
"The 2015 Irrigation Snapshot provides a transparent window on irrigation in New Zealand – where we irrigate, what's happening with future developments, how much water we use, what it is taken for and the value this creates for our nation. Many stakeholders have asked for an update on the status of irrigation so we've pulled together the latest data to illustrate the national situation," says IrrigationNZ chief executive Andrew Curtis.
New Zealand currently has 720,000 hectares of land under irrigation. The snapshot highlights that another 350,000 hectares could be sustainably irrigated by 2025.
New Zealand presently abstracts around 2% of its water resource (minus hydropower which takes it to 5%). By international standards, this is an extremely low abstraction rate, with irrigation accounting for 60% of water usage.
Pastoral-based activities make up approximately three quarters of our irrigated area (dairy 50% and sheep and beef finishing 25%). The other 25% of land under irrigation supports predominately vegetable and arable crops, alongside fruit and wine growing.
In 2012, it was estimated that irrigated farms provided a $2.7 billion contribution to New Zealand's economy, and more than double this in terms of the benefits to the wider community.
"Irrigated agriculture underpins many of the provincial economies on the east coast of New Zealand. The snapshot backs up the importance of irrigation for towns like Hastings, Blenheim, Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, Cromwell and Alexandra which would be far less vibrant and resilient without irrigation," says Curtis.
IrrigationNZ chair Nicky Hyslop says launching the snapshot cements a great year for IrrigationNZ.
"The 2015 year has seen IrrigationNZ step up with its communication activities. We have focused on sending a message to all that irrigation has a huge role to play in building resilience for our country, environmentally, socially and economically. This message is by no means finished and we still have a long way to go to get the wider public behind central or local government funds to support water storage in New Zealand. The industry snapshot will help us demonstrate the significance of irrigation to the regions and the wide range of land uses it supports. We expect strong interest in the report, and alongside sending to key stakeholders, will make it widely available through our website www.irrigationnz.co.nz." says Hyslop.
