YOUR INDUSTRY
Asha Chhagan, Plant & Food Research entomologist, is researching the guava moth
Asha’s career – insects won out over birds Asha Chhagan was so intrigued by biology that when it came to deciding what to specialise in for her master’s degree, she couldn’t decide between birds or insects. Elaine Fisher “I was at a fork in the road and could have gone either way. What took me to entomology was when I visited HortResearch (now Plant & Food Research) to meet with a potential supervisor and entomologist Philippa Stevens. She was so passionate about her work that it steered me to entomology,” says Asha who is now a Plant & Food Research entomologist, based at Mount Albert in Auckland and a member of Women in Horticulture. Asha is researching the sustainable management, biology and distribution of guava moth which has been in New Zealand for more than 20 years and thrives in the warm Northland climate. Although very much “a city kid,” Asha says growing food is in her genes. “My parents owned a fruit shop in central Auckland and from a young age I was exposed to lots of exotic fruit and vegetables.” 36
The ORCHARDIST : APRIL 2022
Among her happy childhood memories is visiting the Turners & Growers auction rooms near the waterfront with her dad early in the morning to pick up fruit and vegetables for the store. “My extended family were market gardeners at Pukekohe, growing potatoes, onions and greens and my relatives in India were market gardeners too, so I guess horticulture is in my blood.” Asha credits her understanding of the horticultural industry through all stages from growing, to retail to the consumer to her childhood experiences and family traditions. It’s that background which also motivates her to carry out research to make positive differences for growers. Her first introduction to that kind of research was working part-time at HortResearch while studying for her master’s
