Hort News 13 July 2021

Page 1

HORTNEWS JULY 2021, ISSUE 17

Rockit launches in the Gisborne region. – Page 10

ISSN 2624-3490 (print) ISSN 2624-3504 (online)

WWW.RURALNEWS.CO.NZ

No workers, no growth!

Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

ZESPRI CHIEF executive Dan Mathieson says unless the kiwifruit industry gets more people to work in the sector, it may have to look at slowing down its speed of growth. Mathieson told Hort News the biggest challenge for the industry is getting a good and consistent supply of people coming through the sector.

Those who can help pick the fruit – as well as prepare the orchards for the next season’s crop. He adds the sector also want people to work through the post-harvest facilities to ensure that fruit is being managed well, to get it to market in the best condition. Mathieson says New Zealanders currently make up about 55% of the kiwifruit sector’s workforce, while backpackers make up about 25% and RSE workers around 15%.

“We have a good mix, but we are certainly looking for more to supplement the migrant workers and the backpackers,” he told Hort News. “Normally, we would have about 40,000 backpackers in NZ, but that number is down to about 7,000. More of those are going home because of continued border restrictions – so we need more people to replace them.” Mathieson says labour shortages are right across the primary sector, all of

which are working with the Government to look at more options to resolve the workforce problem. “Covid is an incredibly challenging situation and I think what we need to see is more Kiwis getting vaccinated,” he adds. “Once we have got the NZ population safe though vaccination, we will be looking at the relationship with the Pacific Islands to increase the amount of RSEs we need to help in the kiwifruit industry.

“We know that in the islands there is some resistance at the moment, until there are good levels of vaccination to allow many of their people to come into NZ.” However, Mathieson hopes that when those vaccines are rolled out in the Pacific Islands and in NZ, the situation will change and we see a return of both the migrant workers groups and also the backpackers.

A BIG BUZZ Bumble bees’ contribution to the horticultural industry is huge and they are becoming increasingly popular with orchardists and commercial growers for their work as pollinators. Biobees is a Hastings based company which breeds and sells bumble beehives to commercial growers in the hort sector. It says the bumble bee has become popular because they work extremely well with crops that are under some form of cover – be it plastic or glass – including kiwifruit, blueberries, avocados, summerfruit and tomatoes. – See more page 3.

Replacement Spray Pumps & Spray Kits Webbline Agriculture is a direct importer/reseller of a full range of pumps from market-leading manufacturers, along with service kits and accessories. Large range in stock. Dealer enquiries are welcome.

Contact Ben 021 819 482 | ben.boakes@webbline.co.nz 20210629 Hort News banner.indd 1

View online - www.webbline.co.nz WAIKATO •CANTERBURY • SOUTHLAND branches 6/07/2021 11:24:04 am


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