More than 200 vegetable growers, agronomists, researchers, government officials and tech suppliers flocked to Pukekohe recently to participate in the inaugural Vegetables Big Day Out.
Held on February 3 and 4, Biosecurity and Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard
opened the event along with Ngāti Tamaoho Trust representatives Roimata Minhinnick and
Edith Tuhimata, followed by two days of infield demonstrations, discussions, and classroom
presentations.
opened the event along with Ngāti Tamaoho Trust representatives Roimata Minhinnick and
Edith Tuhimata, followed by two days of infield demonstrations, discussions, and classroom
presentations.
The event was hosted by the new Te Ahikawariki Vegetable Industry Centre of Excellence
(VICE), with participation from A Lighter Touch, Plant & Food Research, and the various
vegetable product groups.
At the demonstration farm on Cronin Rd, attendees got to see integrated pest management (IPM) in action. Put simply, how the good bugs are being housed in native plants and other flowers around the perimeter of the crop – in this case, lettuce – ready to pounce if and when the bad bugs have a go at the lettuce.
New tech solutions were displayed, including a sprayer-equipped drone, a small robotic tractor, and an electric weeder towed behind a normal tractor. That very same drone was off to spray pine trees for the forestry industry the following day – and the small robotic tractor is being trialled by strawberry and grape growers in New Zealand, for mowing and weeding under chest-height strawberry rows and under grape vines.
Back in the classroom, Edith Tuhimata – Manager of the Environmental Unit at Ngāti Tamaoho – took attendees through the cultural indicator for freshwater quality, which she has developed and is applying in and around the Pukekohe area.
The indicator combines Māori perspectives with scientific ones, to provide a baseline for water quality and what should be done to preserve or improve water quality, for generations to come.
On day two, a panel of some of the industry’s youngest and keenest participants talked through how they got into the industry and what their aspirations are. The panel concluded that to get ahead, young people need to speak up, make themselves visible and say ‘yes’ to every opportunity. The panel was diverse in makeup – two growers, one agronomist, one scientist and one advocate. They had all entered the industry through different routes and took different education and skill development pathways.
