Kiwifruit Growers Prepare for El Niño, Stay Optimistic
Kiwifruit growers are watchful but remain optimistic as concerns around the potential effects of the El Niño weather pattern this season.
Chief executive Colin Bond says the good news on this front is the positive attitude to change as articulated by the new coalition Government.
He says he's had talks with Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Nicola Grigg, the Associate Minister of Agriculture with special responsibility for horticulture.
Bond says the kiwifruit industry has a product the world wants, and the challenge is being able to meet that demand. He says that means getting settings right around infrastructure, be that ports, roading access to water, labour, agri chemicals and land use.
"These are important policy settings we need to get right so that we can optimise the opportunity, not just for kiwifruit but also the wider economy.
"We are finding the current government very receptive to our thoughts and listening to us, with the result we think there is a strong alignment of goals," he says.
Bond says the kiwifruit sector has a product for which there is global demand and which can expand, and the coalition Government has an aspiration to grow exports. He says the two goals fit hand in glove; the challenge now is to remove barriers to fast growth.
The appointment of Grigg as the Minister of Horticulture has gone down well with NZKGI and Bond says they see this as recognition of the role that horticulture plays now, and what it can do in the future.
"The appointment of Minister Grigg is a reflection of the opportunity that horticulture offers to the NZ economy," he says.
Climate change is an issue Bond says grower members are tuned into. He says there is increasing awareness of changing climate, and growers are looking for solutions, such as different cultivars or growing in different regions. He says moving to grow in new regions may sound easy, but there are significant issues which make this difficult.
He says the big one is getting sufficient orchards in a region to justify the cost of expensive post-harvest facilities.
"This is an area for discussion but quite difficult to achieve without significant investment," he says.
