Strawberry Growers NZ

STRAWBERRY GROWERS’

CONFERENCE A SUCCESS

Words by Karen Orr : Strawberry Growers New Zealand

There was excellent representation of strawberry growers and industry associates at the 2021 Strawberry Growers NZ (SGNZ) annual conference and AGM in Masterton on 5 and 6 July, with over eighty people at the event.

Attendees heard from a range of speakers, with presentations covering everything from strawberry varieties to getting a fair return for growers. Following a day indoors, delegates got to stretch their legs on a field trip hosted by Haygrove, viewing strawberry growing in polytunnels at Dot and Alan Bissett’s farm north of Masterton.

The Bissetts grow 140,000 strawberry plants on tables in the tunnels, achieving excellent results. They have reduced the number of staff they need and are averaging good yields. Growing under cover has enabled them to sell for an extended season and seek more consistent sales returns, with the additional benefit of less damage and easier access to the plants.

Progress in thrips research

One key area of research presented was a three-year Sustainable Farming Fund project on Future-proofing thrips management in strawberries. Currently wrapping up the second year of this project, Dr Mette Nielsen, an Entomologist at Plant & Food Research, provided a brief recap on year two and the research undertaken. The project aims to “increase knowledge and develop and implement new tools and management techniques to manage thrips, transforming the current Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy”. Mette provided an update on the research and activities, noting that some of the original plans had to be postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions. This includes an IPM and crop scouting training workshop for growers – now scheduled for October. Paul Horne, a renown IPM specialist based in Australia, will visit to talk at this workshop. Mette concluded that through the workshops growers will gain knowledge and confidence in thrips identification for crop scouting. Paul will talk on how growers can build their own IPM programme, including introducing a traffic light system for chemical use with biocontrol agents. Mette presented research data gathered from a demonstration trial on tabletop-grown strawberries in Auckland during the past season. The trial used biological control agents, cultural control strategies and selected soft chemistries. Such controls included simple concepts such as using sticky trap rolls which performed well.

...some of the benefits of taking an IPM approach included lower or no residue levels to meet export market requirements, not having to rely on chemistry, and better conditions for staff

Mette said some of the benefits of taking an IPM approach included lower or no residue levels to meet export market requirements, not having to rely on chemistry, and better conditions for staff.

Year three plans will be based on grower feedback for trial and management over the upcoming strawberry season. A suggestion raised during Mette’s presentation was to include a trial with tunnel-grown strawberries which there is strong interest in. SGNZ will keep growers and associate members updated as this project continues to progress.

Copies of the presentations are available on the website www.strawbsnz.co.nz