Flooding in parts of the Northern Island of New Zealand have caused crop losses as high as 30% for some growers affected, according to Leigh Catley, with Horticulture New Zealand. “We’ve had quite widespread flooding. Vegetable growers on the bottom half of the North Island have lost up to 30% of what was in the ground,” she told Fresh Plaza. Fruit growers on productive orchards, and in the areas around Whanganui, Palmerston North and Canterbury have been affected too, she said. Christchurch is the largest metropolitan city near the affected area.
The Minister for Primary Industries has declared the situation a medium scale adverse event, following the latest rain, and snow in the Canterbury area yesterday. “We’re very grateful to the Minister for that,” said Ms Catley. “He’s a farmer who was affected himself, so he understands what the guys are going through.” The cost associated with disaster mitigation is another big consideration according to her. “It’s one thing to have crop in the ground affected by these sorts of events, but it’s another thing altogether to try and clean up afterwards,” she said.
Luckily the kiwi harvest, which is headed for a record-breaking volume this season, was finished, but some kiwi growers were affected by silt left after heavy rain and flooding. “The real shame is that this area was one small pocket that hadn’t been affected by Psa,” said Ms Catley. Psa is the virus which had infected large numbers of kiwi fruit crops in recent years, affecting both Green and Gold varieties. Industry-wide research work is still ongoing to mitigate further damage from the virus. “It’s a question of taking stock.”
For more information
Visit the Horticulture New Zealand website: www.hortnz.co.nz