Wai to Kai Autumn 2019

I A W I A K

SOUTH PACIFIC SEEDS

TO

19 0 2 N M U T AU

IT’S LIKE GOPRO journey of the seed WITH THE BEES!

CAPSICUM & LETTUCE GROWTH & MOVEMENT IN HEATED TOMATO

CUCUMBER & CHILLI

PLUS THE BUSINESS OF GROWING THE “IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT” MENTALITY WILL DESTROY YOUR BUSINESS

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The Royal Society at the end of last year sought feedback from the public on the use of gene editing in the primary industries. Two discussion papers are available on their website and can be viewed at the following link: www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/our-expert-advice/all-expertadvice-papers/gene-editing-for-the-primary-industries/ These papers explore five scenarios of where gene editing could be used in New Zealand's primary industries to:

OLEY CHARLGOINTGTEDCIROENCNTOR

MANA spsnz.com - charlotte@ 021 301 677

•

Reduce environmental impact (reduce wilding pines)

•

Respond to insect pests and environmental stress (improve forage grass)

•

Speed up innovation (develop new apple varieties faster)

•

Protect taonga species used in the primary industries (protect Mãnuka from disease)

•

Provide new human health benefits (remove potential allergens from milk)

Each scenario highlights agricultural, ethical/social and legal considerations as well as risks and potential benefits. Feedback about your thoughts, ideas, questions or concerns about this technology were sought.

This is a great discussion point.

All primary sectors within New Zealand are going to have to address the topic of gene editing sooner or later. It is likely that key exporters such as Fonterra and Zespri will be key influencers in the conversation with government but equally important will be the feedback of individuals and organisations.

South Pacific Seed Sales (NZ) Ltd 12 Alpito Place ∙ PO Box 804 Pukekohe 2340 Phone +64 9 239 0890 Freephone 0800 77 22 43 sales@spsnz.com www.spsnz.com

Scan me LOUISE MILLAR

NATIONAL GREENHOUSE 021 242 1015 - louise@spsnz.com

GLEN HAYNES

PACIFIC ISLANDS, HOME GARDEN 021 300 677 - glen@spsnz.com

As we all know the planet is changing and plants have to adapt too if we are to provide enough food to feed future generations. We’ll likely have two billion more mouths to feed by mid-century—more than nine billion people. But sheer population growth isn’t the only reason we’ll need more food. The spread of prosperity across the world, especially in China and India, is driving an increased demand for meat, eggs and dairy, boosting pressure to grow more corn and soybeans to feed more cattle, pigs and chickens. If these trends continue, the double whammy of population growth and richer diets will require us to roughly double the amount of crops we grow by 2050.

The environmental challenges posed by agriculture are huge, and they’ll only become more pressing as we try to meet the growing need for food worldwide. Plant breeding is the essential platform for sustainable agriculture. Through innovation we can adapt to climate change whilst improving crop yields, food quality and food safety, benefiting everyone in the food chain, from farmers to consumers.

Whether gene editing has a place in this for New Zealand primary industries remains to be seen. As a primarily export nation we need to consider the implications of this technology in relation to our trading partners and their views.

It would appear that gene editing could be an incredible technology to drive key advances in plant breeding but whether that would detract from our ability to access markets, command high prices for our products and whether it would be accepted by New Zealand consumers is all up for discussion.

What will be interesting is that given 98% of the vegetables grown in New Zealand are from seed bred by global breeding companies, if these companies adopt gene editing then we as producers and consumers of vegetables will have no option but to embrace the technology as well, or be unable to import seed, grow crops and consume domestically produced vegetables.

MANAGING DIRECTOR

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CONTENTS

PAGE 2

PAGE 12

PAGE 4

2 News & Events

8

Growth & movement in 12 heated tomato

Food brings people together

4

It's like GOPRO with the bees!

10

Cucumber & chilli

14

The business of growing

6

Capsicum

DISCLAIMER Descriptions, recommendations and information provided are based on an average of data and observations collected from our trials, and shall correspond as closely as possible to practical experience. This information shall be provided to assist professional growers and users, whereby variable local conditions must be taken into account. Significant variations may occur in the performance of products due to a range of conditions including cultural/ management practices, climate, soil type and geographic location. Under no circumstances shall South Pacific Seed Sales (NZ) Ltd accept liability based on such information for deviating results in the cultivated product. The Purchaser shall itself determine whether the items are suitable for the intended cultivation and whether they can be used under local circumstances. www.spsnz.com | 01

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2019 EVENTS APRIL

TBC

SPS SALAD FIELD DAY

MAY 10TH YOUNG VEGETABLE GROWER OF THE YEAR PIA CENTRE, PUKEKOHE www.younggrower.co.nz

JUNE

24TH - 26TH

CHRISTMAS PARADE The Pukekohe Santa parade was held on Sunday the 2nd of December under a cloudless sky! This year the parade recognised the centenary of the Pukekohe Vegetables Growers Association and South Pacific Seeds entered a float to show our support for the industry and our community. Our float entry was created and organised by our marketing guru, Elyse Price and she put together an outstanding creation that won the special prize for acknowledging the vegetable growers centenary! Our team at SPS and their families did a fantastic job at being involved on the day, dressing up in costume and getting into the spirit. We had vegetables donated from the local growers in our shopping trolleys to give out to the waiting crowds who took these with great enthusiasm. Overall it was an excellent event to be involved in and our thanks goes to Elyse for all her time and effort.

A big thank you to all the growers who donated vegetables!

HORT CONNECTIONS MELBOURNE CONVENTION CENTRE, AUSTRALIA www.hortconnections.com.au

JULY

7TH - 10TH

COSTA PCA CONFERENCE GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA www.protectedcroppingaustralia.com

JULY 31ST - AUGUST 2ND HORT NZ CONFERENCE MYSTERY CREEK, HAMILTON www.hortnz.co.nz

SEPTEMBER

4TH - 6TH

ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA - ASIAWORLD-EXPO HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LANTAU, HONG KONG www.asiafruitlogistica.com

SEPTEMBER

4TH - 5TH

YOUNG GROWER OF THE YEAR FINAL ASB BAYPARK, MT MAUNGANUI www.younggrower.co.nz

OCTOBER

17TH - 19TH

PMA FRESH SUMMIT ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, USA www.pma.com

OCTOBER

17

FUTURE FOOD-TECH LONDON www.futurefoodtechlondon.com

TH

- 18

TH

2019 TRENDS

-NAMING BABIES AFTER FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Women's Health has released a list of the baby names that are expected to be most popular for babies born in 2019. As mankind as a species is often so very original, unsurprisingly the list featured any and all Kardashian/Jenner-related names such as Dream, True and Chicago, alongside royal family names like Diana and Harry.

Besides that, the report notes that short names are trending. In fact, Quartz reports that the average length of baby names in the US has been falling since the '90s.

Apparently, "bohemian" names are projected to be on the rise in 2019. Health-food names, like Kale, have seen a 35 percent increase in popularity, while Kiwi has jumped 40 percent, and Saffron 31 percent. Additionally, Peace has jumped 66 percent in popularity, while Shanti, meaning "peace" in Sanskrit, has seen a 34 percent increase.

According to phillyvoice.com , there is a whole section of the internet dedicated to "Mommy blogs" helping parents find the perfect health food name for them, including "Yummy Fruit Inspired Baby Names For Girls And Boys" and "Deliciously Adorable Fruit & Veggie Names for Baby." www.hortidaily.com

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MEASURING THE TASTE OF

WITH AN IPHONE Measure the taste without tasting.

For tomatoes this has been possible for decades with the taste model developed by Wageningen University & Research. This model makes judging the taste much easier than with a panel, but it is still fairly cumbersome.

For a current taste measurement with the model, a minimum of 3 kilograms of tomatoes must be turned inside out in a laboratory. The latest sensors offer opportunities to make this a lot faster and easier. And maybe even with an iPhone!

The taste panels of Wageningen University & Research are well known: a consumer panel and product-specific sensory panels that assess the taste of different products. Based on the knowledge of these panels, WUR developed taste models for a number of products. Those models work, but wouldn't it be nice to do a measurement yourself in the greenhouse or shed on a single fruit?

The soon to be launched Fresh on Demand project is working on improving quality in the fruit and vegetable chain, for a better alignment with the wishes of consumers. Taste is an important part of this. That is why within Fresh on Demand it is being investigated whether taste can also be measured with non-invasive sensors. In practice, only the brix content (the amount of dissolved sugars) is often measured as 'fast' taste measurement. But taste is more than just the sweetness of a tomato.

That is why WUR is looking into a selection of non-invasive sensors this year, including VIS / NIR Hyperspectral Imaging & Transmission Spectroscopy, various handheld sensors and TeraHertz. The aim is to develop a new taste model with the help of these sensors to measure the taste. That is simpler and therefore cheaper than with the current taste model and faster and more complete than with just a brix measurement.

The user-friendliness follows from the fact that the sensors are 'noninvasive': the tomatoes are tested from the outside, so they do not have to be destroyed. This makes it possible to perform taste research already in the greenhouse of, for example, a

breeder. In addition, a number of the sensors to be investigated are already built into some smartphones.

Fresh on Demand is a public-private partnership of, among others, breeders, technical companies, trading companies and growing companies and is co-financed by Topsector Tuinbouw & Uitgangsmaterialen. The goal of Fresh on Demand is to optimally align fruit and vegetable chains to consumer wishes and requirements so that the consumption of fruit and vegetables increases. www.hortibiz.com

HOW GROWERS CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CO2 ENRICHMENT Every grower knows that plants need CO2 , but less commonly known is that when CO2 levels drop below 250 to 300 ppm (parts per million), plants stop growing altogether. Although plants can survive without added CO2 , they probably won’t thrive. After boosting CO2 levels, many growers have noticed that not only are plants actually greener, they also grow in greater numbers and mature earlier, and because of this many growers are interested in CO2 enrichment equipment.

The first step to take before obtaining any CO2 enrichment tool is to assess CO2 levels with a handheld meter or by using an operation’s control system. The optimal level of CO2 depends on the type of crop being grown, although it’s generally recommended to have levels around 1,000 ppm during the day when vents are closed.

The most popular CO2 enrichment tools are either natural gas or propane tanks, or tanks that contain pure liquid CO2.

In most cases, the lowest cost way to generate CO2 is by burning propane or natural gas. In addition to generating CO2, these systems also produce water vapour and heat, meaning that growers have to manage the influx of heat and humidity. Fortunately, it’s simple to offset the added moisture and heat using ridge vents, fans or air conditioners.

Removing water vapour from the air is also easily accomplished with a dehumidifier, however, it will produce a little bit of heat on its own.

The use of pure CO2 comes with several benefits, such as the fact that there’s no risk of crop damage, no moisture or heat give off, and the ability to control when and how much CO2 is dispersed. However, pure CO2 contains less carbon dioxide than propane and natural gas, making it less cost-effective. Compressed CO2 is the second most expensive method of CO2 supplementation.

Timing matters when it comes to CO2 supplementation. The best time to deliver supplemental CO2 is one to two hours after sunrise until two to three hours before sunset, depending on how quickly CO2 levels are being diminished. Because photosynthesis typically only occurs during daylight hours, CO2 enrichment at night time is unnecessary. However, it’s good practice to give plants a boost of CO2 on cloudy days to compensate for the lower rate of photosynthesis.

Carbon dioxide enrichment is a powerful tool for enhancing crop yield, health and boosting the number of annual harvesting opportunities. By lessening the time to maturity, growers can also save money on heat and fertilisation costs and reduce the amount of water used during crop production. Whether it comes from a compressed CO2 tank or a propane tank, a little bit of CO2 enrichment goes a long way in enhancing the profitability of a greenhouse. www.hortidaily.com

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IT’S LIKE GOPRO WITH THE BEES! Researchers at the University of Washington have created a sensor package that is small enough to ride aboard a bumblebee. Because insects can fly on their own, the package requires only a tiny rechargeable battery that could last for seven hours of flight and then charge while the bees are in their hive at night.

“Drones can fly for maybe 10 or 20 minutes before they need to charge again, whereas our bees can collect data for hours,” said senior author Shyam Gollakota, an associate professor in the UW’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. “We showed for the first time that it’s possible to actually do all this computation and sensing using insects in lieu of drones.”

While using insects instead of drones solves the power problem, this technique has its own set of complications: First, insects can’t carry much weight. And second, GPS receivers, which work well for helping drones report their positions, consume too much power for this application. To develop a sensor package that could fit on an insect and sense its location, the team had to address both issues.

“We decided to use bumblebees because they’re large enough to carry a tiny battery that can power our system, and they return to a hive every night where we could wirelessly recharge the batteries,” said co-author Vikram Iyer, a doctoral student in the UW Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. “For this research we followed the best methods for care and handling of these creatures.”

Previously other research groups have fitted bumblebees with simple “backpacks” by supergluing small trackers, like radio-frequency identification, or RFID, tags, to them to follow their movement. For these types of experiments, researchers put a bee in the freezer for a few minutes to slow it down before they glue on the backpack. When they’re finished with the experiment, the team removes the backpack through a similar process.

These prior studies, however, only involved backpacks that simply tracked bees’ locations over short distances — around 10 inches — and did not carry anything to survey the environment around the insects. Here, Gollakota, Iyer and their group designed a sensor backpack that rides on the bees’ backs and weighs 102 milligrams, or about the weight of seven grains of uncooked rice.

“The rechargeable battery powering the backpack weighs about 70 milligrams, so we had a little over 30 milligrams left for everything else, like the sensors and the localisation system to track the insect’s position,” said co-author Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, a doctoral student in the Allen School.

Because bees don’t advertise where they are flying and because GPS receivers are too power-hungry to ride on a tiny insect, the team came up with a method that uses no power to localise the bees. The researchers set up multiple antennas that broadcasted signals from a base station across a specific area. A receiver in a bee’s backpack uses the strength of the signal and the angle difference between the bee and the base station to triangulate the insect’s position.

“To test the localisation system, we did an experiment on a soccer field,” said co-author Anran Wang, a doctoral student in the Allen School. “We set up our base station with four antennas on one side of the field, and then we had a bee with a backpack flying around in a jar that we moved away from the antennas. We were able to detect the bee’s position as long as it was within 80 metres, about three-quarters the length of a football field, of the antennas.”

Next the team added a series of small sensors — monitoring temperature, humidity and light intensity — to the backpack.

That way, the bees could collect data and log that information along with their location, and eventually compile information about a whole farm.

“It would be interesting to see if the bees prefer one region of the farm and visit other areas less often,” said co-author Sawyer Fuller, an assistant professor in the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering. “Alternatively, if you want to know what’s happening in a particular area, you could also program the backpack to say: ‘Hey bees, if you visit this location, take a temperature reading.’”

Then after the bees have finished their day of foraging, they return to their hive where the backpack can upload any data it collected via a method called backscatter, through which a device can share information by reflecting radio waves transmitted from a nearby antenna.

Right now the backpacks can only store about 30 kilobytes of data, so they are limited to carrying sensors that create small amounts of data. Also, the backpacks can upload data only when the bees return to the hive. The team would eventually like to develop backpacks with cameras that can livestream information about plant health back to farmers.

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“

Having insects carry these sensor systems could be beneficial for farms because bees can sense things that electronic objects, like drones, cannot,” Gollakota said. “With a drone, you’re just flying around randomly, while a bee is going to be drawn to specific things, like the plants it prefers to pollinate. And on top of learning about the environment, you can also learn a lot about how the bees behave.

”

Photo credit: Mark Stone/ University of Washington www.seedworld.com www.spsnz.com | 05

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CAPSICUM SCARFACE

Scarface is a capsicum rootstock specifically used for plant health and yield.

Grafted capsicum crops are becoming increasingly popular throughout The Netherlands.

Yield increase has been significant, particularly toward the last part of the season through the heat.

Root health is extremely important for the longevity of the crop; assessments have shown Scarface to maintain white roots throughout the growing cycle.

Scarface encourages earlier production and has shown to produce a more compact plant from the beginning of the crop with regular setting throughout the season. Fruit size can generally be slightly increased.

Scarface is best suited with a generative scion which works very well with the generative Enza Zaden capsicum genetics.

Scarface germinates very evenly, the graft of the rootstock and scion is rapid.

Scarface is suited to heated and non-heated environments, in a non-heated environment Scarface will prolong the production cycle.

VARIETY FEATURES • Even germination • Grafts well • Available as untreated seed • Suitable for heated and non-heated growing environments DISEASE RESISTANCES • High Resistance: Tm:0 • Intermediate Resistance: Ma/Mi/Mj

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To request commercial seed or a sample for your evaluation of these varieties please contact the SPS office on

NE

W

0800 77 22 43

TA

MAVERA

MADURO

MARLET

MAVERA

MADURO

MARLETTA

MAVERA is a high quality, blocky red variety which is regular in its setting and fast to colour. With a generative nature, MAVERA sets flowers easily and regularly throughout the plant producing a consistent and reliable harvest. The fruit of MAVERA are an attractive, uniform blocky shape with a brilliant red colour and good firmness. MAVERA copes well with high fruit load and is strong against blossom end rot and internal fruit rot.

A high quality blocky red variety, MADURO will maintain fruit size throughout the season providing consistency of yields. A compact sturdy plant, MADURO has an open plant habit which is labour friendly and endurance is excellent which is most important in long term crops. MADURO recuperates quickly following periods of high fruit loading and is strong against blossom end rot and internal fruit rot. The fruit of MADURO are very firm with good shelf life and a glossy red colour.

A reliable variety, MARLETTA stands out for its stability in production. With a generative nature, MARLETTA sets flowers easily which then develop quickly ensuring good fruit set and continual fruit loading of the plant. With good adaptability to various growing conditions, MARLETTA is very consistent with regards to fruit shape, size and fruit quality crucial for market supply. The plant is sufficiently powerful to continue growing and setting right throughout the season maximising yield potential.

The fruit of MARLETTA are solid with good shelf life and even colour change to an attractive red.

VARIETY FEATURES • 185-210g weight • 3-4 lobed blocky fruit shape • Generative fruit type • Suitable for heated growing environments • Early maturity • Plant habit is vigorous and open DISEASE RESISTANCES • High Resistance: Tm:0-2 • Intermediate Resistance: TSWV:0

VARIETY FEATURES • 180-190g weight • 3-4 lobed, blocky fruit shape • Generative plant type • Suitable for heated and non-heated growing environments • Medium maturity • Plant habit is vigorous DISEASE RESISTANCES • High Resistance: Tm:0-2 • Intermediate Resistance: LMV:1

VARIETY FEATURES • 175-190g weight • 3-4 lobed, blocky fruit shape • Generative plant type • Suitable for heated growing environments • Early maturity • Plant habit is compact and open DISEASE RESISTANCES High Resistance: Bl:1-35/Nr:0

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GROWTH & MOVEMENT IN HEATED

Heated tomato cultivation is on the increase globally, particularly in North America, Eastern Europe and Russia. Consumers have discovered the large variety of shapes, flavours and colours and are experimenting with new applications. They expect a recognisable product with good flavour all year round. Enza Zaden has more and more to offer in this area.

There have been drastic changes to the range of fresh tomatoes on offer in the past 25 years. Depending on the region, the range on offer used to consist primarily of beef tomatoes, loose round tomatoes and – as a sign of what was about to happen – cherry tomatoes. Western Europe was the first region to witness a differentiation in the range of tomatoes on offer. Starting in the early 1990s, the range expanded to include cocktail tomatoes, plum tomatoes, truss tomatoes and snack tomatoes in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours.

EXPERIMENTING

NORTH AMERICA

“Consumers have discovered the enormous variety and are experimenting with new uses and forms of preparation,” says Crop Breeding Manager Martijn van Stee.

“This stimulates the consumptions, but the pattern of expectations also expands; the consumer expects to be able to buy a recognisable product with good flavour all year round.” This trend has consequences for the strategy and growing methods of producers. Investment in growth, geographic distribution and assimilation lighting has resulted in companies that are able to offer their customers fruit of a consistent, very high quality all year round.

This development has been visible for some time in North America, according to Area Sales Manager Freek Knol. In addition to the beef tomatoes grown under glass – for which the acreage has remained fairly consistent for a long time – a large acreage of truss tomatoes, cocktail tomatoes, plum, cherry and snack tomatoes has also been added. Initially it was mainly the large truss tomatoes that were gaining ground. In recent years, the more refined flavour tomatoes are exhibiting the strongest growth. 25 years ago, most of the supermarkets had one – maybe two – types of tomatoes on their shelves. Nowadays this has increased to five or six in many cases.

AUTONOMOUS GROWTH AND TAKEOVERS The renowned tomato producers are expanding under their own strength and through takeovers of nurseries in regions where they want to strengthen their presence. They are aiming at long-term relationships with supermarket chains and short logistics chains, in order to get their products on the shelves as quickly and freshly as possible. The relationships between seed companies and producers has therefore become closer.

Knol notes that Enza Zaden is an emerging name. “Everyone recognises us from Campari, which has been well-known here for twenty years. This variety played a trailblazing

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role in the differentiation of the tomato segment. In the past, the fresh market consisted almost exclusively of beef tomatoes, grown both under glass and in polytunnels. As supermarkets and consumers became more demanding, the heated cultivation has expanded significantly and the outdoor cultivation has become less important.”

In Canada (1,200 ha heated tomato, primarily in Ontario and British Columbia) and the Northern part of the United States, the relatively cheap double polytunnels are gradually being replaced by modern, better insulated glasshouses. Some of these glasshouses are fitted with grow light installations, which make it possible to grow top quality fruit even in the depths of winter. The need for extra grow light is not as high in the Southern part of the United States. This also applies to central Mexico, where the heated cultivation takes place in polytunnels.

Knol: “These polytunnels are also very suitable for high-tech tomato cultivation. The heated cultivation in Mexico currently covers approximately 1,500 ha. Fruit grown here is primarily exported to the United States and Canada during the winter months.

However, Mexico is an emerging market with a growing middle class.

This results in local demand for a more differentiated product range in the slightly more expensive segments.”

ORGANIC IS A GROWTH SEGMENT In recent years the expansion of organic farming has stagnated somewhat, due to the discussion surrounding the requirements for organic farming. Now that the National Organic Standards Board in the United States has expressed their views on this – the rules remain as they were – Knol is counting on further expansion.

“There is room for expansion, because the demand in recent years has outstripped the supply.”

ENZA ZADEN IS GROWING TOO “Our tomato portfolio has become significantly broader and stronger in recent years,” says Van Stee. “Maxeza gives us a competitive variety in the large truss segment. It has better scores on flavour and colour than the established varieties and has a comparable physical yield.”

Knol: “Many growers have tried the variety and are satisfied with

its performance.

However, the market is competitive and it is not easy to get a higher price for a variety of higher quality. This does not encourage growers to make the switch, but I am hopeful that Maxeza will win their confidence.”

An emerging market segment that Enza Zaden can successfully enter is that of the medley packs: boxes of fine (flavour) tomatoes of various types and colours. Growers and retailers have targeted these medley packs at the curious consumer who likes diversity.

The area sales manager: “Our breeders have developed a line of tomatoes with various colours, which can be grown in a uniform manner.” Other varieties for which there is a growing interest include Garincha (mini plum), Laudrup (mini plum), the small cocktail tomatoes Annamay and Anaisa, the large cocktail tomato Avalantino and the new beef tomato EZ 1197, which is performing well in Mexico.

RUSSIA IS STIMULATING HOME-GROWN The cultivation of heated tomatoes is expanding strongly in Russia. The government wants to reduce the dependence on import products and has assigned a high priority to high-tech food crop cultivation.

“They have invested heavily in ultra-modern glasshouses,” according to Product Manager Export (Eastern Europe) Mike Lemmen. “Established companies and new investors are rolling out projects covering dozens of hectares. The major emphasis lies on tomatoes and cucumbers.

In the summer there is usually an adequate supply of these products from unheated polytunnels and the many vegetable gardens. Farmers and investors are therefore focusing primarily on the illuminated, heavily heated glasshouse production.”

According to Lemmen, the Russian acreage of high-tech glasshouse farming now covers 750 ha, whilst it was less than 600 ha a few years ago. Almost half of this acreage is fitted with assimilation lighting. “A further 300 ha will be added over the next three years, particularly around Moscow, Saint Petersburg and in the south of Russia,” says the product manager. “In addition, neighbouring countries are investing in large-scale horticultural projects. This is happening particularly in the Caucasus region

and in Kazakhstan. These regions traditionally have a strong bond with Russia and are helping to make Russia less dependent on imports from Europe, North Africa and Turkey.”

EXPANSION OF PRODUCT RANGE The rapid expansion of Russian tomato farming is taking place across the full spectrum of varieties. In addition to the traditionally grown beef tomatoes, the large truss tomato is also showing strong growth. An even more recent development is the interest in flavour tomatoes, which is translating into a rapidly expanding acreage.

Lemmen: “It is good to see that our market share is also expanding. Maxeza is doing very well in Russia, because this variety performs exceptionally well in a continental climate. Savantas, Tomagino and Robagino are also very popular. Other specialities will gain a foothold in the coming years.”

According to the product manager, the Russians appreciate the practical support offered by Enza Zaden in Russia and the Netherlands. “Rapidly expanding high-tech companies have to focus all their efforts on keeping up with this growth in terms of growth management. We are used to sharing our know-how and offering very pragmatic support to customers.

That is quite a challenge, because there are often enormous distances between the companies. A quick visit to a company is not possible; that often takes several days.”

POLAND With 1,000 ha of heated tomato farming, Poland is a major export country. The domestic demand is dominated by pink beef tomatoes, which account for half of the total acreage. “Seven years ago this product accounted for less than 100 ha. It is a relatively expensive, nostalgic tomato variety with a good flavour.

The strong growth in this segment is typical of the economic growth and increased affluence in this country.”

Enza Zaden very recently developed a variety that is making a big impression in this segment. “We will expand this variety on a trial basis in 2018,” the product manager concludes.

“We are doing the same with the large truss tomato Maxeza, which is gradually gaining ground here.”

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CUCUMBER

To request commercial seed or a sample for your evaluation of these varieties please contact the SPS office on

0800 77 22 43

PICOLINO

BELUGA PAMPERO

PICOLINO

BELUGA

PAMPERO

Where smaller sized quality fruits are required, PICOLINO offers very uniform fruits for year round cropping.

A widely adaptable mini cucumber, PICOLINO is a strong growing multi-fruited variety with good side shoot development. The plants set 3-4 dark green, lustrous fruits per node which remain slim. PICOLINO is early into production maintaining high quality and production levels throughout the season.

A long time market standard, BELUGA is a proven performer that meets strict producer demands for yield and high regular production while maintaining a high quality final presentation.

BELUGA produces a vigorous plant with an open habit and strong powdery mildew tolerance. The dark green fruit are very straight, with good uniformity of shape and size. Widely adaptable, BELUGA performs well for Spring, Summer and Autumn harvest.

PAMPERO is a telegraph variety for the cooler growing season. It has proven to withstand the changing conditions during the Autumn, Winter and into the Spring months. PAMPERO produces high quality, mid-green fruit which are straight and slightly ribbed.

With tolerance to powdery mildew, PAMPERO sets and yields well during this difficult growing time. The plant has an open habit which enables easier plant work.

VARIETY FEATURES

VARIETY FEATURES

VARIETY FEATURES

• 13-15cm length

• 32 - 34cm length

• 32 - 35cm length

• Multi-fruiting

• Single fruiting

• Single fruiting

• Harvest period all year round

• Harvest period Spring, Summer and Autumn

• Harvest period Autumn, Winter and Spring

• Suitable for heated and non-heated growing environments

• Suitable for heated growing environments

• Suitable for heated and non-heated growing environments • Early maturity • Plant habit is strongly vigorous DISEASE RESISTANCES • High Resistance: Cca/Ccu • Intermediate Resistance: CMV/ CVYV/Px

• Medium maturity • Plant habit is moderately vigorous DISEASE RESISTANCES • High Resistance: Cca/Ccu

• Early maturity • Plant habit is vigorous and open DISEASE RESISTANCES • High Resistance: Cca/Ccu • Intermediate Resistance: CMV/ CVYV/CYSDV/Px

• Intermediate Resistance: Px

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CHILLI

ARIETY V L A I R T FLAME

MESUT

CAYSAN

CAYSAN

FLAME

MESUT

High quality and high yield are key features of CAYSAN which produces smooth tapered fruit. This popular variety has been the market standard for many years due to the reliability of production, quality presentation and excellent shelf life. A vigorous plant with continuous fruit setting resulting in a high total yield, CAYSAN is early to mature and the dark green fruit change colour quickly to red. A moderately pungent type, the fruit has excellent firmness when harvested either green or red.

A high quality Jalapeno variety, FLAME has a moderate pungency level hence is very popular in cooking, particularly Mexican dishes. The plant of FLAME is upright with an open habit which makes for ease of picking.

High yielding, FLAME has good setting ability and is early to mature producing highly uniform fruit. The fruit of FLAME are firm with a smooth skin and glossy appearance which shows little crazing. The fruits are often harvested green.

MESUT is a high yielding cayenne chilli that produces a very uniform crop. More pungent than Caysan but slightly shorter in fruit length, MESUT will maintain its heat when grown in a protected environment. The plant of MESUT is compact and open which enables easier harvesting and the fruit can be picked at both the green and red stages of ripeness

VARIETY FEATURES • Fruit mature to red colour • Fruit size approximately 14cm x 2cm • Pungency levels of 30,000-50,000 Scoville units • A hybrid variety • Covered production is possible year round

VARIETY FEATURES • Fruit mature to red colour • Fruit size approximately 8cm x 3cm • Pungency levels of 2,500-10,000 Scoville units • A hybrid variety

VARIETY FEATURES • Fruit mature to red colour • Fruit size approximately 12cm x 2cm • Pungency levels of 75,000+ Scoville units DISEASE RESISTANCES • High Resistance: Tm:0-2 Trial seed available

• Covered production is possible year round DISEASE RESISTANCES • Intermediate Resistance: Xcv:1-3

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Food brings people together

Article by Vanessa Baxter

At the Fearless Kitchen, we believe that cooking offers a powerful team-building experience that encourages communication, collaboration and connection. We offer these events for corporates because cooking has a way of drawing everyone in (even the wallflowers!) and breaking down barriers.

At the end of our cooking events, participants feel included, connected and accomplished. And they get to celebrate their achievements over the delicious food they created.

Because we are all about fresh food, fun challenges, and making people feel great, we have some clear company goals.

We want to instill a deep sense of belonging and have people positive and confident in their abilities. We aim for people to feel truly connected and united for a common purpose. This strengthens teams within organisations as well as bonds between companies and their customers. We empower our participants which results in personal and group satisfaction that is contagious.

The Fearless Kitchen is not your average cooking business. We are a social enterprise dedicated to providing quality food for all. For every corporate cooking event booked, we provide an extraordinary cooking experience for Kiwi kids in need.

This way we can tap into every age group and demographic and share our passion for cooking and food with everyone.

We believe in bringing the world of fresh produce to those who may not usually put much thought into shopping and cooking. Showcasing fresh seasonal recipes and produce is key so that adults and children alike can replicate these ‘hero’ ideas when they get home.

Eating seasonally’ can be viewed as a catch phrase and can be misunderstood in the mainstream. Some have difficulty in understanding the benefit of buying in season or even what that means. Our supermarkets have become havens for all produce at all times, so it is easy to become complacent as to which vegetables and fruit the changing weather may bring.

At The Fearless Kitchen, when we work with children, we introduce them to the fresh produce which matches the season.

In Summer we create fresh rice paper rolls full of shredded courgettes, julienned capsicum, cos lettuce, basil, mint and pineapple. In Winter we show them how to dice red and green cabbage, shred carrots, chop ginger and mix with pork to create their own dumplings.

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We know that it isn’t possible for everyone to be able to consistently purchase seasonally and locally but it’s wonderful to spread our passion and knowledge so that people can make informed decisions for their own health alongside what they can afford.

When we create an event for kids we chat about the weather and how it makes them feel. What do they love to eat when it’s cold and what do they feel like when it is warm. We love to find out what affects their moods and what types of fresh foods they mention when it’s Winter versus Spring. Often this will reflect what happens at home or will reflect what they see within their own market or shops. Often it’s as simple as Winter is soup and Summer is fruit.

When we encourage all our participants to try new and different produce we watch their faces. As they realise the new flavour burst is delicious, we know that there is a benefit in showcasing fresher and tastier produce. There is no point encouraging someone to try tomatoes, for example, when they are out of season. You may hinder them trying a juicy sweet, non-acidic variety in it’s prime, and what a tragedy to miss such an exquisite experience.

When I am coming up with fresh ideas for our events or menus for catering, I constantly check a produce calendar to understand which vegetables and fruits will be available for the booked date. This way I can create ideas which offer more flavour and nutrition. It often results in more people learning new skills too. When I brought asparagus to an event recently I was so surprised that many people were nervous about cooking it. They were deeply concerned they would get it wrong. We chatted about steaming, pan frying and bbq-ing the spears and what they could be matched with. We discussed delicacy versus punch and how that would translate to the rest of the dish. This was empowering for the group who then took to cooking the nutritionally dense vegetable with confidence and success.

Summer naturally lends itself to tasty cool salads and bowls of fresh fruits. We tend to crave natural sweeteners such as stone fruits, which offer us an energy boost especially in the slump of mid afternoon. A tasty salad can be a meal or a side, a freshly tossed instant dish or one created with pickles and fermentations of produce along with super grains, nuts and seeds. Salads can elicit a mixed reaction.

Yet, I think this stems from the days of set recipes such as the Cobb and Chef salads and the ubiquitous coleslaw.

We have come far from there and now a salad can be magnificent in it’s simple mix of fresh seasonal ingredients tossed with a dressing of choice. I have devoted an entire chapter in my cookbook to salads and hope that readers are inspired to try some of them and to create their own unique versions too.

One of my favourites is the Slow-Roasted Tomato and Eggplant salad that I used to serve to guests in Ho Chi Minh City, where I lived for 5 years. This is a fabulous Summer salad, taking advantage of seasonal cherry tomatoes, basil and eggplants and punctuated with salty local goats cheese.

Slow-roasted Tomato and Eggplant Salad 2 eggplants sea salt (approx. 1⁄4 cup - enough to salt the eggplant all over) olive oil (approx. 1⁄2 cup) 1⁄4 cup pesto 1 cup slow-roasted tomatoes (see below) 125g goat’s cheese, crumbled 2 Tbsp pinenuts, toasted in a dry frying pan

Slow-roasted tomatoes a bowlful of colourful cherry tomatoes a handful of fresh thyme and basil leaves 3 cloves garlic, crushed with a fork 2 Tbsp olive oil 1⁄2 tsp salt, a few cracks of black pepper

This is so delicious, but if you are like me you may find yourself eating the ingredients before they make it into the salad - so it may pay to cook up a double batch of this.

Serves 4 To roast the tomatoes, preheat the oven to 100oC. Rinse and dry the tomatoes, then tip them into a large bowl. Add some thyme, basil and garlic, then drizzle with some olive oil and toss together to coat. Tip into a roasting pan, and season with salt and pepper.

Roast for around 2 hours, until the tomatoes have collapsed.

Retain the roasting juices for including in the salad.

To make the salad, thickly slice the eggplants, and place in a single layer on a baking tray. Salt them all over, and allow to sit for 30 minutes until they bead with sweat. Rinse off the salt and pat them dry with a paper towel.

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan on medium–high heat, and, once the pan is hot, add in the slices of eggplant in a single layer to fry. Fry on one side for 3–4 minutes, before turning and cooking on the other side. Remove to a paper towel, as they are cooked, and continue to cook in batches. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Layer the eggplant in a serving dish, and smear some of the pesto onto the slices. Top with the slow-roasted tomatoes, and some of the oil and juices from the roasting process. Scatter over the crumbled goat’s cheese.

Whisk a little more of the pesto with a little oil, and use this to drizzle over the top. Scatter the toasted pine nuts over the top.

Vanessa Baxter is a chef, award-winning cookbook writer, and Masterchef 2013 finalist. She believes food is the perfect medium for connection, creativity, communication and understanding others. She has worked, lived and eaten all around the world, from heading a school in Vietnam to studying Italian in Siena to working as a private chef in Cape Cod. She now lives in Auckland with her two teenage sons, Chris and Morgan, and sits on the Exec Committee of NZ Food Writers. She runs The Fearless Kitchen, hosts a podcast of the same name and has published her first cookbook. She has no intention of ever slowing down and loves to create delightful, memorable cooking events that inspire positive change.

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THE

If it ain't

BROKE don't fix it!

MENTALITY WILL DESTROY YOUR BUSINESS We’ve all heard the common phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” For the life of me, I can’t figure out why anyone would subscribe to this way of thinking. It implies that you should always wait for something to completely fail before doing anything to improve or fix it.

If you apply it to running your business, it will eventually lead to your business’ downfall. It won’t happen overnight, but without improving your company, division, process or basic business practices, you will start a slow decline into irrelevance and failure.

That sounds harsh, but it’s reality. Human nature is to focus on only improving things that are broken or the squeaking wheel. But before the process is recognised as broken or an issue lingers long enough to start “squeaking,” it’s likely the business has already been negatively impacted and may have been suffering for quite a while.

Below are two quick tips to help you create a culture of proactive process and procedure evaluation to adjust or fix issues before they impact your business.

Red Teaming – This common military practice involves viewing your position from your competitors’ perspective and developing strategies and tactics to win against your own company. Red teaming can be applied on a whole-company basis or to analyse basic company processes and assumptions. For example, what could another company offer your employees to entice them to leave? Viewing this scenario from an adversarial position can help you brainstorm new and creative ways to retain and reward employees.

Stress Tests – Most business processes and procedures are built for the normal or average way a business activity happens.

Stress testing those processes and procedures means pushing the assumptions that created them to the limit. Say a company requires the site manager to document all field activities. This may work if the company only has a few fields with short distances between them, but how does this hold up as the company expands? Can the one person oversee double the fields, or triple? Keeping this process in place during expansion will mean either the manager will visit fields less often or take shortcuts in field evaluation just to complete the paperwork.

Every business process or management assumption must be constantly challenged. Red teaming and regular stress testing will help you see potential weaknesses before they damage your business.

By Jim Schweigert, President, Gro Alliance, www.seedworld.com 14 | www.spsnz.com

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CONSIDER YOUR CONSTANT

CONTENT

Your website is open for business 24-7. It doesn’t take a day off when you do and customers can access it at any time. So, what is your website saying when you’re not around?

Websites are too often thought of like a fact sheet or brochure. You made the investment, wrote the content for it once, it’s done and that’s it. The reality however is that your website should be thought of like a living entity. It is the number one place all your content marketing efforts will live, and the anchor to every social media post you share. So, when people navigate away from your latest blog post, will the rest of your site content reflect the expert persona you’re working so hard to build?

To make sure that your website stays optimised it’s best to think about a few key points.

1. User Experience: a. What are the primary goals of your website – product awareness, lead capture, brand education?

Is the content and tools you offer on your site reflecting your goals? b. Ease of use – Is the navigation clear? Are widgets and tools intuitive for users?

2. Reporting: Having good analytics set up on your site can help you unlock some very powerful information.

If you don’t know where your leads are coming from, how can you tell what content or marketing initiatives are moving the needle? Newer tools like heat maps can also be a powerful way to help you decide what changes should be made to your website.

3. What are Your Competitors Doing?: By picking three to five competitors and reviewing their websites you should be able to get a sense of what they are doing differently from you. Sometimes there will be things you do better, and sometimes there will be things they do better – spending this time reviewing can help create internal benchmarks and determine future website goals.

4. Behind the Scenes: If your site isn’t up to spec from a technical perspective, you might be getting a bad rap before your customers even finds your page. Things like having a mobile friendly site, good site speed (think page load times) and search engine optimisation can have an impact on where your site appears in searches and the amount of time users will spend on your site.

With an optimised site as the solid foundation of your communications efforts, you need to ensure your site content is current, compelling and in line with your brand persona. This will make it easy for consumers of your content to not only connect with you, but feel right at home exploring your website.

By Shawn Brook, President, Issues Ink, www.issuesink.com

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FOUR

TYPES OF PAYMENTS FOR PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

Working out what to pay staff on a public holiday can send you into a tailspin.

Do I pay them or not?

And if I pay them, how much?

Actually, working this out is simple. You just have to answer a couple of questions about each employee.

TWO QUESTIONS AND FOUR CATEGORIES Two factors determine what pay staff receive for a public holiday: •

whether they worked on the public holiday; and

•

whether the public holiday would have been a working day for them if it was not a public holiday.

Answering those two points is all you need to do.

Because if you do that, you’ll find there are only four categories of employees: •

Category A: Employees not required to work on a public holiday and who would not have otherwise worked that day. These employees will not receive any pay for that public holiday;

•

Category B: Employees not required to work on a public holiday and who would otherwise have worked that day.

These employees must get their relevant daily pay for that day;

•

Category C: Employees required to work on a public holiday and who would not have otherwise have worked that day. These employees must get at least time and a half for the hours actually worked on the day; and

•

Category D: Employees required to work on a public holiday and who would otherwise have worked that day.

These employees must get at least time and a half for the hours actually worked. They also must get an alternative holiday on pay.

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You can set it out in a table like this: WORKING DAY

REQUIRED TO WORK

NOT REQUIRED TO WORK

NOT WORKING DAY

Time and a half for the hours actually Time and a half for the hours actually worked worked on the day and alternative holiday on the day

Relevant daily pay

No pay

WHAT IS A WORKING DAY? This is the crucial question in most cases. For some staff this can be tricky to work out.

Let’s say you have a variable roster, that changes from week to week. You may have an employee who works Mondays sometimes. If a public holiday falls on a Monday, is that a day they would have worked?

The Holidays Act says that you have to look at a range of factors to decide the matter for that employee: •

What does their employment agreement say?

•

What are their work patterns?

•

Does the employee only work when work is available?

•

What do the rosters suggest?

•

Would you or the employee reasonably expect that they work that day?

These factors apply a kind of common sense test of fairness. In most cases, reflecting on these factors will produce the right result.

WHEN YOU CAN’T WORK IT OUT Sometimes after taking the above factors into account, the answer may still not be clear.

What do you do then?

In that case the Holidays Act says that if its too hard to work out, you can ask a Labour Inspector to determine the matter.

Labour Inspectors are employees of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. They are like the police force of workplace relations.

You can ask for Labour Inspectors to help through the Ministry’s website.

WHAT ABOUT ALTERNATIVE HOLIDAYS? The only staff who get alternative holidays are those in Category D above.

They are those who work on public holidays that are days they would have otherwise worked anyway.

You have to give those staff a chance to have a break from work on another day. Its an alternative holiday, because it substitutes for resting on the public holiday.

Like annual holidays, you don’t have to let the employee take their alternative day off when they like. You must agree to when the day gets taken.

If the holiday is not taken within 12 months, the employee can ask you to pay that day out. You don’t have to agree to that. But you may see that as a benefit, by removing a potential liability.

If the alternative day is owing when their employment ends, you must pay that day out in their final pay.

CONCLUSION Don’t fret about what to pay your staff for public holidays. Use the four categories to work out what benefits they receive.

For each employee you need only answer two questions: •

did they work on the public holiday?

•

would the public holiday have been a working day for them if it was not a public holiday?

When in doubt, apply the commonsense factors to work out if they would have worked on the public holiday.

Armed with this information, you can find where they sit in the table above and give them their dues.

By Mark Donovan, www.markdonovan.co.nz www.spsnz.com | 17

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