HORTNEWS JANUARY 2023
Boosting Taranaki’s horticulture – Page 9
WWW.RURALNEWS.CO.NZ
ISSUE 29
Frost bites kiwifruit crop Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
HORT NZ chair Barry O’Neil has been growing kiwifruit since 1984 and says this is one of the worst years he’s had. Just on 70% of O’Neil’s own crop has been wiped out by the frost, which means that he’ll effectively lose 75% of
his income for next season. He’s not the worst affected – other orchardists have lost their entire crop. Like O’Neil, those affected face the prospect of having to still maintain and keeping their orchard going knowing full well that they will have to rely on the ‘generosity’ of their bankers to get them though this crisis.
“I very much feel for everyone that is struggling financially because of the frost and also as an industry we have had a big issue with fruit storage and losses,” he told Hort News. “This has happened at the same time as our costs are increasing and we haven’t got the revenue from the fruit numbers.” O’Neil says the estimated loss from
the frost could be in the order of a billion dollars to the industry. O’Neil says he’s always been aware of the cyclical nature of the weather and what impact it might have from time to time. In his case, he always budgeted on having no income every five years but reiterates that this season has been exceptionally bad.
“The ground is so wet in some cases and in many areas they have had three times the annual rainfall before the end of the year,” he says. “The soil is so saturated that it only takes a small rainfall to get water pooling again in paddocks. Normally the soil will absorb the rain but it’s so saturated it can’t.”
A NOT SO BERRY CHRISTMAS! A DECEMBER wet spell threw a spanner in the works for many berry growers around the country in the lead-up to Christmas. Rain was a problem for Canterbury grower Norm Mundy, where it damaged strawberries on his hydroponic operation at Belfast, near Christchurch. “If it rains for more than half a day or so, it damages them,” he told Hort News. “They go white on the tips where the water’s been sitting and botrytis sets in and they’re unsalable.” See full story page 4.
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