Tuesday, 18 July 2017 07:55

Lost vege plots

Written by  Peter Burke
Horticulture NZ chair Julian Raine. Horticulture NZ chair Julian Raine.

Tar and concrete could spell the end of New Zealand growing leafy green vegetables such as lettuce and spinach if house building persists on productive land near urban areas.

Horticulture NZ chair Julian Raine says leafy green crops need good soil and a frost-free climate, without which NZ may have to start importing such vegetables.

He says housing’s competing for land means Kiwis must think more about where we build houses and grow food; the two must get on together.

“We need to work out what the design of our cities should be to allow for food production and housing. The reason cities are where they are goes back in history: people could grow food where they lived, a key thing we have kind-of forgotten,” Raine told Rural News.

“Urban sprawl out into the productive area around a town makes it a problem for future populations, so we are raising it with MPI, the government and councils.”

More houses built on high-quality, productive soils mean less land for food production, he says.

NZ in total uses 120,000ha for horticulture – no more than 1% of the land mass, “less than one eighth of the Canterbury Plains”.

“All our apples, kiwifruit, other fruit and vegetables are grown on a very small area. Constantly putting concrete and tarseal on these areas will force us to import produce and grow less and the consumer will face higher prices.”

Raine notes that prices this season for vegetables have been higher because of the wet. Crop yields are down so prices have risen.

Consumers want high quality, healthy, affordable fruit and vegetables, but they won’t get them unless the issue of land use is resolved.

Horticulture foresees a bright export future, Raine says.

“We are exporting large volumes of apples and kiwifruit: apples are heading for a billion dollar industry and kiwifruit four billion. Then we have cherries, avocados, onions, squash and potatoes becoming more important in value and volume.”

More like this

Boost for hort exports

The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.

Applications for HortNZ scholarships now open

Applications are open for Horticulture New Zealand’s (HortNZ) 2025 scholarship programme with18 funding opportunities for students with a special interest in the commercial fruit and vegetable industry.

Scientist bags hort's Bledisloe Cup

The days of being a simple vegetable grower are long gone and there is a need for highly skilled people in both the business and science side of any operation.

Featured

Massey Research Field Day attracts huge interest

More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.

National

Winter grazing warning

Every time people from overseas see photographs of cows up to their hocks in mud it's bad for New Zealand.

ANZ defends farm lending rates

The country's largest lender to the agriculture sector says it's not favouring home loans over farm and business lending.

Machinery & Products

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo…

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Review SOEs!

OPINION: NIWA has long weathered complaints about alleged stifling of competition in forecasting, and more recently, claims of lack of…

Bank reset

OPINION: Adding to calls to get banks to 'back off', NZ Agri Brokers director Andrew Laming has revealed that the…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter