Seminar opens lid on manuka honey potential

Large-scale manuka honey trials are being held at Tutira. Photo / File

The value of honey exports rose to $187 million in 2014 - up more than 30 per cent from the previous year.

While the volume of honey harvested fell slightly compared with 2013, industry players say there are more beekeepers and beehives in New Zealand than ever. Owners of marginal land are increasingly considering manuka as a valid commercial alternative to livestock and plantation forestry on large areas of their properties.

In February last year, more than 150 people attended the highly successful seminar: "Manuka: A major forest product opportunity for New Zealand landowners", run by Masterton-based forestry consultants Woodnet in conjunction with the Wairarapa Farm Forestry Association.

This year a second seminar is planned in Napier, run by Woodnet in partnership with the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.

"Manuka and Profitable Marginal Land Use" will be held on Wednesday, May 6, at the War Memorial Conference Centre, Napier, 9am-4.30pm.

The seminar will feature a line-up of top industry speakers, and includes an afternoon visit to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's manuka trial sites at Tutira.

The seminar will update participants on major developments in the fields of manuka health science, markets for manuka products, the economics and practicalities of growing manuka on marginal land, and the beekeepers' perspective of working with landowners.

In the afternoon, participants will have a chance to visit the large-scale manuka trials at Tutira on land owned by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council. They are part of the High Performance Manuka Plantations programme - a seven-year Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) between the manuka honey industry and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to increase the yield and reliability of supply of medical grade manuka honey.