Commercial Vegetable Growing
This commentary-only report examines vegetable production throughout New Zealand, although concentrating on the South Auckland/Waikato regions. It covers the main crop types produced on commercially intensive vegetable production properties.
Key Points
- Generally good climatic conditions throughout the year, although irrigation was necessary through the dry summer.
- Onion and potato production was well up which depressed prices.
- Most other crops received similar prices to last year.
- With increasing costs, most gross margins are down in 1999/2000.
- Poor profitability is likely to see a number of growers exit the industry.
Physical Factors
Climate
The 1999/2000 growing season was characterised by average temperatures and lower than normal rainfall. Temperatures experienced throughout the year were all within close range of the norm, with winter temperatures slightly warmer and summer temperatures marginally cooler than average. Rainfall only exceeded the monthly average four times out of 12, with particularly dry months occurring in December 1999 and February 2000.
Warmer weather and low rainfall from March to July 1999 provided perfect conditions for onion and potato ground preparation and planting. Consequently a larger than normal area was planted in onions.
Irrigation was necessary on most crops throughout the dry summer periods. Onions that were irrigated over the particularly dry month of December produced better size than unirrigated crops. Potatoes and greens required irrigation to the end of February.
Conditions over onion curing and harvest were suitably warm and dry, producing some very good quality onions. The dry weather in general enabled potato harvesting to proceed without any difficulties throughout the year.
Although slightly wetter than average during April and May 2000, ground preparation for winter 2000 has gone smoothly. This has been helped by the reduced area being planted due to poor financial returns.
Production
Onions
Accurate estimates of the area planted in onions are hard to gauge, but is conservatively put at 6,400 ha nationally for the 1999/2000 growing season. This is an increase in area compared to 1998/99 and reflects individual growers increasing their area and new growers entering the onion market. Areas like Horowhenua and Hawke's Bay reported a doubling in area planted.
Adding to the large planted area, good growing conditions have combined to push up the volume of onions produced. At the time of writing no industry statistics had been released. However, it is generally believed this year's crop is larger than last year's record high yields and will easily realise in excess of 202,000 tonnes of exportable onions.
An increased understanding of the onion thrip life cycle and an industry thrip strategy produced good levels of control for most growers. However, localised problems, especially near harvest, and the high cost of thrip control mean thrips are still a major problem for onion growers.
As in 1998/99, the incidence of onion white rot, a major soil borne disease of onions, has not been a particular problem in 1999/2000. This is probably due to the warm drier conditions experienced over the last two years. However, the industry as a whole is concerned at the build-up of this disease and the consequence it may have on the sustainability of the industry, especially in traditional growing areas such as Pukekohe.
The onion harvest was spread over a greater time frame in 1999/2000 than the 1998/99 harvest. Reasons for this include the larger than normal crop and growers waiting to see if prices improved before harvesting.
Potatoes
Potatoes have followed a similar trend to onions with increased acreage and increased yields. Area planted for the year to December 1999 reached 12,197 ha nationally, up from 10,487 ha in 1998/99. This has been combined with exceptionally good yields in all areas, but particularly the South Island. The early over-supply reduced prices early in the season, and impacted on North Island producers, forcing many to hold off harvesting. This lead to yield increases which created more of an over-supply problem later in the year. It is estimated that the increased area in potatoes has produced an extra 40,000 tonnes in the market-place. The over-supply has carried over into the 2000 season and looks set to continue.
Potato quality over 1999/2000 has been mixed, depending on the variety grown, time of planting and location. Potato cyst nematode numbers have built up again and careful planning of rotations will be needed to ensure this does not become a major problem.
Greens
The mild weather, with fewer fluctuations than previous years, has produced good even growing conditions for green vegetables. This in turn has meant regular supplies to the market with fewer troughs and peaks.
Production of some of the key green vegetables, including broccoli and lettuce, has increased as several growers increase their production. This has had an impact on prices, with the general trend being downwards.
Irrigation was essential for green vegetable production through December 1999, February and into March 2000. Quality and quantity over this time was reduced if an individual grower's irrigation capacity could not keep up with demand.
Squash
The 1999/2000 season has seen a drop in both the number of squash growers and area planted. The Buttercup Squash Council reports 150 registered growers compared to 163 in 1999, and a total area of 7,066 ha compared to 7,944 in 1998. The biggest decline in area planted is South Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty, dropping from 745 ha to 442ÿha.
Volume of squash exported in the 1999/2000 year is 92,057 tonnes, down slightly from 94,634 for the 1998/99 season. However, both these figures are higher than the previous four years when export volumes ranged from 68,181 tonnes to 83,323 tonnes.
The cooler summer temperatures delayed maturity in most growing areas. As a result, immature fruit reached the Japanese market. This has been a major complaint of early season product. It has the effect of shortening the New Zealand market season by up to five weeks, as many Japanese importers are not prepared to take the risk with early season New Zealand fruit and consequently do not start buying until mid-February.
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