NZ vegetable supply at risk without policy change, warns industry leader

Vegetables NZ says a patchwork of rules and policies based on regions makes it unworkable for some growers. Photo/ 123rf

By Stephanie Ockhuysen of RNZ

An industry body leader says New Zealand is at risk of losing significant amounts of its locally grown vegetable supply if government policies are not addressed.

John Murphy, of Vegetables NZ, said the system was broken and local growers were being put out of business.

Murphy said it was not an issue that was 30 or 40 years away, but an issue right now.

“Growers are being strangled by regional decisions that take too long, make no sense and ultimately drive them out of business.

“This isn’t just a grower issue – it’s a public health issue.”

He said vegetable growing needed to become a permitted activity in the present round of resource management reforms.

“In places like Horowhenua, there’s a very real prospect of growers being told that they can no longer grow as they currently are.

“That will have a dramatic impact on New Zealand’s vegetable supply.

“The reality is that in many places growers are having to operate outside of consents, which is alarming.”

Murphy said there was a patchwork of rules and policies based on regions that was making it unworkable for some growers.

Associate Minister of Agriculture Nicola Grigg, who is responsible for horticulture, said she understood the commercial vegetable sector was urgently seeking regulatory certainty.

“As the minister responsible for horticulture, I am relentlessly focused on supporting the sector’s success,” Grigg said in a statement.

She said the Government was considering the best ways to address their concerns to enable growth and reduce burdensome regulation that allowed for New Zealand to be an export powerhouse.

Grigg said this included considering policy amendments such as proposals relating to freshwater, water storage and vegetable growing.

She said Cabinet would take decisions on a new direction for freshwater as part of the Government’s quarter-1 action plan to ensure pragmatic rules for on-farm water storage and vegetable growing.

- RNZ