SUSTAINABLE VEGETABLE SYSTEMS PROJECT PROGRESSING DESPITE A YEAR OF PANDEMIC DISRUPTION By Gemma Carroll : Communication & Engagement Officer, Potatoes NZ Inc.
SVS team
Sustainable Vegetable Systems Project progressing despite a year of pandemic disruption Problem Recognition The government has identified New Zealand Freshwater as needing better management and stewardship. One of the contributors to freshwater quality issues is nitrate leaching.
Vegetable Production & Opportunity Nitrogen is a crucially important component for all life. It is needed to make chlorophyll in plants, which is used in photosynthesis. Vegetable growers use nitrogen in the form of fertilisers to produce food.
Microbial processes in the soil are important for making nitrogen available to plants, but can also produce nitrous oxide. Nitrogen in excess of plant demand can leach from soils into waterways, causing algal growth and resulting in oxygen depletion for other water species. An additional problem can occur during nitrification and denitrification. When the chemical process is not completed, nitrous oxide (N2O) can be formed. This is of further concern as N2O is a potent greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Although the Sustainable Vegetable Systems (SVS) project is focussed on outcomes for grower nitrate management which will indirectly improve freshwater, there may be beneficial outcomes also enabling industry to meet government emission targets in the not-too-distant future.
NZGROWER : JUNE 2021 67
