Access to staples of the New Zealand food basket, such as carrots, potatoes, onions and leafy greens, must be a consideration on the table in urban planning, says Horticulture New Zealand Chief Executive Mike Chapman.
Horticulture New Zealand has made a submission on the Productivity Commission’s draft report Better Urban Planning.
The draft report suggests different ways of delivering urban planning in New Zealand to meet changing demands.
“Parts of the New Zealand food supply chain are, in our view, being affected by constraints on production because of competition for suitable land for housing, and access to water,” Mr Chapman says.
“Effects of shortages, or no supply, may result in increased prices for access to food staples such as carrots, potatoes, onions and leafy greens.
“Horticulture is a growth industry in New Zealand, making an important contribution to the economy, including through jobs by employing about 60,000 people. As a core element of New Zealand’s food network we need room to grow, alongside expanding urban areas. It would be a serious planning failure for New Zealand to have food shortages and to have to import fresh fruit and vegetables that can be grown here.”
Areas where Horticulture New Zealand has concerns in the draft report include: regulating the built environment to consider effects on rural zoned land; the ability for industry groups, such as Horticulture New Zealand, to participate in the planning process; and the ability for each council in New Zealand to approach planning issues on the same basis. There is a balance that needs to be found in streamlining and cutting red tape for urban development and ensuring that councils meet community needs, such as the ability to eat domestically grown fruit and vegetables.
“Overall, Horticulture New Zealand agrees with approach of the Productivity Commission, but having land to grow fruit and vegetables is critical to horticulture’s ongoing growth and our ability to feed New Zealand, so the submission process is a valuable one,” Mr Chapman says.
The Productivity Commission’s final report on urban planning is due to Government on 30 November.






Announcements
Job Offers
- Export Sales Manager Europe Division
- Directors - New Zealand
- Nursery Production Manager Victoria Australia
- Technical Sales Consultant, Washington
- Export Sales Manager North America Exports
- Head Grower Hydroponic Greenhouse
- Account Manager – South-East Asia
- Vegetable Seed - EU Sales and Regional Manager
- Business Developer – High Tech Horticulture
- Operations Manager Organic Farm Barka Oman
"Tweeting Growers"
Top 5 -yesterday
- "At the end of the day, everyone has to pay a higher price for the gas”
- Abu Dhabi: $84m contract for building two hydroponic farms
- Oishii opens new product segment by introducing $20 berries
- Researchers develop new plant wearable device to monitor water stress in crops
- Australia: Using BioClay technology to protect plants against whitefly
Top 5 -last week
Top 5 -last month
- "Honduras greenhouse park to become the largest producer-exporter in the Central American region"
- Netherlands: Codema Systems Group declared bankrupt
- Shanghai: Young people who can't get vegetables start to "help themselves" through hydroponic vegetables
- Canada: Dutch holding company acquires Ontario Plants Propagation
- Google meets agriculture at Go Green Agriculture
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2022-05-19 General Authority for Statistics: Prices of some goods up by 36%
- 2022-05-19 Soaring dollar rates affect Pakistan fruit and vegetable prices
- 2022-05-19 "At the end of the day, everyone has to pay a higher price for the gas”
- 2022-05-19 Climate change is already taking its toll on Spanish agriculture
- 2022-05-19 Berries become Mexico’s number one agri-food export product
- 2022-05-19 Significant increases in price for fruit this week; red cherries, seedless watermelons, Bartlett pears
- 2022-05-19 Viet Nam - U.S. Agricultural cooperation: reliability and mutual benefit
- 2022-05-19 Australian growers again see Queensland floods ruin crops
- 2022-05-18 Poland ranked third among EU countries, regarding strawberry production
- 2022-05-18 Malaysia: Modern farming popular with young agropreneurs
- 2022-05-18 Estonia: Tomato and cucumber production costs up
- 2022-05-18 Bangalore: Vegetables enter the 'Rs 100 club'
- 2022-05-18 Movement of Mexican asparagus crossing through Arizona, California and Texas expected to increase
- 2022-05-18 94.1% of the fruits and vegetables exported by Spain are transported by truck
- 2022-05-18 Australia: Union alliance and Woolworths partnership should support all workers
- 2022-05-17 "Greenhouse lettuce demand and prices fluctuate"
- 2022-05-17 The Netherlands produces almost 7 times more cucumbers per square meter than Spain
- 2022-05-17 3,500 Nigerian growers targeted for new hybrid tomato & cabbage tests
- 2022-05-17 Kerala government decides to fix Minimum Support Price for five more crops
- 2022-05-17 Australian berry industry has seen significant growth in recent years