New Zealand Horticulture

The New Zealand Horticulture Industry

The New Zealand horticulture sector combines natural advantages with human innovation and world-leading technology to produce and export a wide variety of premium fruit and vegetable products. Key strengths include New Zealand’s clean, green environment, diverse geography and climate, and excellent soil quality.

New Zealand’s horticulture sector is based largely on the export of kiwifruit, wine and fresh and processed vegetables. Over the past 20 years, horticulture exports have grown to NZ$2.2 billion. Kiwifruit and wine are the biggest earners, each with export values in excess of NZ$1 billion. The land area of horticultural crops has also increased by 40 percent to 121,000 hectares during the past 10 years. Horticulture is New Zealand’s sixth largest export industry, with domestic sales included it’s worth an estimated $NZ4.7 billion.

The industry is committed to ensuring fresh and processed foods are safe, farm production systems are sustainable, and the use of agri-chemicals is minimized. Monitoring and traceability systems provide further quality assurance.

Kiwifruit growers are always seeking ways to further enhance the products they sell to the overseas market. Hence, research is also producing fruits with greater health benefits and consumer convenience, such as citrus with easily peeled rind, seedless fruit and fruit of increased size. As an example, ZESPRI® Gold kiwifruit, a natural development by New Zealand kiwifruit growers, is a better source of vitamin C than supplements. New Zealand is also a major exporter of processed fruit and vegetables other than fresh produce.

Video Credits – Plant and Food

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