From elite school to elite soils: a winning young horticulturist. In May this year, 25-year-old Sarah Dobson became the first regional finalist for the 2022 Young Grower of the Year competition. Sarah is an environment and sustainability technician at A.S. Wilcox and will next represent the region at the national competition in September. The Pukekohe…
Update No. 8 Sustainable Vegetable Systems (SVS)Programme update, March 2022, Quarter 3, 2nd year.Full report with data tables can be read here. Workstream 1 – Controlled experimentation to quantify nitrate leaching We have progressed the four rotations and are approaching the last crop, ryegrass, to be sown in Rotation 1 and 2 in Canterbury and Rotation 3…
Potatoes New Zealand has resources to educate people about potato varieties (the difference between waxy vs floury vs all-purpose potatoes) and potato cookery terms. Potato varieties and how they cook is a general guide to show how specific potato varieties typically cook. Potatoes are affected by weather, growing conditions and the time of year so…
Tool development: Making the invisible, visible. By Andrew Barber, Sustainable Vegetable Systems’ Programme Manager. Nitrogen is invisible, its effects aren’t. Therefore, the cause-and-effect link is much harder to make than say sediment on the road. Change will only occur by working together to improve practices, not through unenforceable leaching numbers. The Sustainable Vegetable Systems (SVS)…
Oakley’s are industry leaders in harnessing the latest technology to minimise environmental impacts, like extensive use of on-farm moisture probes which accurately measure soil moisture and are used to forecast irrigation requirements in conjunction with up-to-date weather forecast information and crop demands. Oakleys also carry out extensive soil and plant nutrient testing to ensure just…
Article by Gemma Carroll, PNZ Communications & Extension Officer, based on a report prepared by Waka Paul, Social Scientist, Plant and Food Research Institute. Understanding growers and agronomists needs and goals in nutrient management, is a key focus of the Sustainable Vegetable Systems (SVS) programme in order to develop deeper understanding and to enable improvements…
By Glenys Christian Featured image: Potatoes NZ board member and grower, Bharat Bhana, with an Adroit sensor in one of his potato paddocks close to Pukekohe. The yellow stick in the background marks where another sensor remains in the soil. While vegetable growers have relied on knowing how much water their crops required by the…
The Methven A&P show was to be 107 this year, but for only the 3rd time in history it was cancelled. The previous two times it was due to the world war, this time it was due to a global pandemic. The Spud-in-a-Bucket competition carried on despite the cancelled main event, with seed donated to…
Understanding management and environmental implications of nitrogen use in vegetable crop production. by PFR scientists Bruce Searle, Trish Fraser, & Jo Sharp. Nitrogen (N) is a key nutrient for the successful production of crops, and each year growers invest significantly in applying N fertilisers. However, not all the applied N is used by the crop…
The Sustainable Vegetable Systems (SVS) program has made great progress with trials and data forming the foundation for interesting conversations around the support that growers need for improved financial and environmental performance alongside compliance reporting. The highlight from this quarter is that the prototype farmer tool has been developed (see Workstream 3). Workstream 1 – The Plant & Food…
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