BULLETINS
& ARTICLES
New Zealand
Tomato Sector Report - February 2004
Executive officer: Ken Robertson
Article reproduced with permission
of David Peterson and Peter Cooper, Vegfed NZ
GREENHOUSE ENERGY CENSUS
Most greenhouse growers will recall the paper work
involved with our Greenhouse Energy Census that we undertook between September
and November last year. Of the 600 indoor vegetable growers in our
database, 403 returned their survey forms. This equates to a 67%
return, which is an excellent result for a survey done via the postal system.
We also had approx. 150 questionnaires returned from the flower growers,
including the orchid growers, so the combined database is for nearly 550
growers. All the data was entered in December and since then our
consultant Andrew Barber at AgriLink has had the unenviable task of processing
it and compiling the final report “Energy Use and Carbon Dioxide Emissions
in the New Zealand Greenhouse industry”. The final report should
be available in February, following which the Climate Change Working Group
(our grower representative committee) will decide how to disseminate the
information will be provided to MfE’s Climate Change Office and to MAF
Policy.
IMPORTS
The final figures for November 2003 were 11,080
kilograms with a value of $NZ 31,684. Assuming there were no imports
in December, the total imports for the 2003 year May to November was 3,299,954
Kilograms with a declared value of $8,860,241.
This is the highest volume imported since 1997
and the highest dollar value ever, reflecting the increased value of the
new gourmet varieties coming in from Australia. The word on the street
is “watch out for more of the same this winter”.
EXPORTS
Exports to Australia commenced at the end of September,
gathering momentum in October and November and appear to have gone well
ever since.
The latest statistic available are for November
and are thus a little out of date but show that 108,757 kilograms were
exported with the main markets being Australia 80,000 kilograms, Japan
13,100 kilograms and Singapore 5,000 kilograms. The value in November
was FOB$539,810.
The exports to Australia included tomatoes on the
vine and these were also being sent to Japan.
CLIMATE CHANGE UPDATE
Unfortunately the wait for government policy on
the ‘small business carbon tax’ that may or may not assist the greenhouse
industry continues. It appears that draft papers from the Climate
Change Office were prepared late last year and went to the Minister for
comment in December. Indications are that there will be some consultation
with selected industries on this Small and Medium Enterprises Policy in
March, following which the final SME policy package will go to Government
for consideration by Cabinet.
In the meantime we continue to have some dialogue
with the Ministry’s Climate Change Office primarily through the Manager,
Small and Medium Enterprises Policy.
In mid-January we took officials from the Climate
Change Office and MAF Policy on a whistle stop tour to Pukekohe to visit
the two largest greenhouse vegetable operations in the country and also
to a rose nursery and very useful discussions were held with the growers
concerned.
We intend to do a similar day’s visit to Christchurch
and cover the main indoor vegetable crops using coal for heating, i.e.
tomatoes, capsicums, cucumbers and roses.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PROJECT UPDATE
Apart from the Heated Greenhouse Industry Census
project which was mentioned earlier, we have 3 other MAF Sustainable Farming
Fund part-funded greenhouse research projects either just getting underway
or about to commence. They can really all be bundled under the scenario
of best management systems and practices for growers.
Briefly, the new projects are:
• Nutrient Solution pathways from Greenhouses and
Soilless Culture – this project will collect information on the recovery
and re-use of nutrient solution and their release and any potential effects
on the environment through the development of easy to use water and nutrient
output models for growers who use both trickle and re-circulation systems
and the development of a Nutrient Solution Pathway Code of Practice to
enable growers to adopt best management practice.
• Improving Energy Efficiency in Greenhouse Vegetable
Production – this project aims to provide directions and guidelines for
greenhouse vegetable growers to save energy and improve their energy efficiency,
i.e. produce more for the same amount of energy and improve their environmental
performance, i.e. reduce CO² emissions. The project is due to
start in February with a survey of selected growers and the actual energy
measurements will take place during the winter.
• Documenting Pesticide Reduction and Collection
Fertigation System Information in Greenhouse Tomatoes – this project is
a face to face survey of 25 Auckland and 5 Christchurch-based greenhouse
tomato growers and has two main objectives, i.e. to survey crop protection
practices in greenhouse tomatoes and compare these with the results of
a similar survey done in 1988 prior to the implementation of IPM and to
survey nutrient solution disposal practices and to identify any issues
associated with this. The interviews are scheduled to take place
in February by Dr Nicholas Martin from Crop & Food Research.
Dr Bill Bussell at UNITEC is continuing the work
on another of the Sector’s current projects “The Rotation of Crops in Rockwool”
(also part funded by MAF’s Sustainable Farming Fund). Through last
Winter and Autumn Bill has developed two papers, i.e. “Rockwool in Horticulture
and its importance in sustainable use in New Zealand” and “Potential for
second use of horticulture Rockwool in landscaping”.
At the beginning of November a trial commenced
to study how hebe plants grow in Mace potting mix containing various percentages
of recycled used Rockwool. Plant height, plant width and stem diameter
are being regularly measured. All treatments are similar to date
and all plants have grown well. Trials are also continuing with the
shredding of used Rockwool in a standard garden mulcher which on completion
should prove to be a simple and effective way of recycling the slabs into
a form that can be easily mixed with other products for various uses.
TOMATO LYCOPENE MAY NOT ACT ALONE AGAINST CANCER
A report from a 14 month’s study by scientists
at two universities in the USA suggests that the protective effect of Lycopene
in tomatoes against Prostate Cancer may come not from the antioxidant alone
but from its combination with other phyto chemicals in the fruit.
The report also suggests that Lycopene supplements are not as effective
as eating whole tomatoes.
The scientists involved in the study believe people
should consume whole tomato products rather than supplements. By
whole tomato products they mean tomatoes in salads, cooked tomatoes, tomato
paste, sauce and juice.
