Passion for horticulture in the genes

Jack's grandfather kicked off his passion

YOUNG GROWERS

Massey University Horticulture Science Master’s student, Jack Hosking, says he inherited his passion for growing from his grandfather.

By Andrew Bristol

Although Jack was brought up in Auckland rather distant from the crop growing areas of the country, he says, “I have always been interested in nature, the outdoors and food production, and the lifestyle seems a lot better than working in town and living a big city life.”

“My grandfather kicked off my passion. He had a quarter-acre section and grew heaps of fruit trees, vegetables and roses. My grandfather was passionate about his land, garden and soil, and his passion has been passed onto me.” At Macleans College in Howick, Jack was the only person in his year to go on to study horticulture, and perhaps the only person ever to take up horticulture after college. He adds that the subjects he took in Year 13 for University Entrance (Statistics, English, Geography, Chemistry and Biology) “gave me a good background for the horticulture degree that I have just finished.” And this year, he is starting a two-year Master of Horticulture Science.

A career in horticulture attracts him because as he puts it, “There’s a lot of great stuff going on as the industry develops ways to meet challenges.”

“In terms of challenges, labour has to be the biggest one in the short term and it will be interesting to see how that turns out this year. There’s also a lot of corporatisation going on in the supply chain, with a move away from family-focused businesses to more corporate, even global companies. “I feel plant variety rights are going to be big as they seem to be the way to build a profitable business, like Zespri. With climate change and warmer winters, we could see crops like kiwifruit moving southward or inland to Taranaki, Central Hawke’s Bay or North Canterbury. Otherwise, we will have to put up with lower yields.” Jack is also attracted to the lifestyle and the people in the horticulture industry. “You get to live in nice places and the people are down-to-earth, great to be around and good role models.” Horticulture is a viable career for the future because we will always need to feed the people of New Zealand – and the world.

With climate change and warmer winters, we could see crops like kiwifruit moving southward or inland to Taranaki, Central Hawke’s Bay or North Canterbury. Otherwise, we will have to put up with lower yields

“Last year, I heard the Minister of Agriculture say that New Zealand needs to be the ‘Swiss watch of the global food market’, producing the best fruit, vegetables and other food, to export and for ourselves. That’s really worth being part of,” Jack says. He finds Massey a really good place to study horticulture. “It’s got a lot of resources, for example, the plant growth unit and post-harvest laboratory. And the teaching staff are a good team.”

BRIDGING THE GAP

One of Jack’s supervisors and mentors is Andrew East, Professor of Postharvest Engineering and Director of the Massey AgriFood (MAF) Digital Laboratory. Andrew sees his role as bridging the gap between traditional horticulture production in New Zealand and new technology. “Just about everything is possible at the moment and there’s often a proliferation of potential solutions for any one problem. However, the horticulture industry has very small margins so it is no use coming up with a solution that will cost more than the financial gain it could generate.” One of the other issues is data. How to generate and label it, which is the hardest thing. Who owns the data – the grower? And then there are problems around data interoperability. Andrew talks of the Massey AgriFood (MAF) Digital Laboratory in practical terms as a “group of people getting stuff done”. “We’re bringing together – in the same building – people with backgrounds in agricultural science, robotics and mechanical engineering to develop cost effective solutions to the challenges facing horticulture, farming and forestry in New Zealand.”

To find out more about Andrew and the MAF Digital Laboratory, visit their website: www.mafdigitallab.co.nz

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