Displaying items by tag: kiwifruit

Kiwifruit orchards will be hives of activity over the next three months as the 2019 harvest gets underway.

The kiwifruit variety SunGold is this season set to overtake the traditional green Haywards variety for the first time.

Wait and see is the watchword on the possibility of a labour shortage in the kiwifruit harvest which began last week in Gisborne and western Bay of Plenty.

Seeka is spending $20 million on building a packhouse, packing machine and coolstores at its new Northland facility over the next two years.

An anonymous group called Concerned Growers Collective is opposing two Zespri resolutions now before growers which the group claims would cause “irreparable damage” to the industry.

Zespri will this year issue licences for an additional 700ha of SunGold kiwifruit and 50ha of organics.

The kiwifruit industry welcomes more Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers for next season but must still work hard to attract the rest of the required workforce.

The partnership approach was a key to Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH) winning the industry award at the 2018 New Zealand Biosecurity Awards last week, says KVH chief executive Stu Hutchings.

Growing confidence in the kiwifruit sector is providing new opportunities for pastoral farmers.

Publicity on a labour shortage in the kiwifruit industry last season had an interesting side effect: it attracted people to come and work in the industry, says New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers (NZKGI) chief executive Nikki Johnson.