Floriculture sector joins NZPPI

The NZ Flower Growers Association (NZFGA) will merge with NZPPI from 1 April, enabling flower growers the opportunity to become part of a larger horticulture industry group.

Following this merger, flower growers will be able to participate in NZPPIs work in the key areas, including advocacy, biosecurity, workforce training & education, science and government policy. In addition to this, they will also have the ability to pursue work that is specific to their sector.

As intensive horticulture businesses, flower growers face many of the same issues that challenge plant producers, so it makes sense to cooperate on the solutions.

NZPPI is working with the flower industry to establish a Special Interest Group to oversee the activities and projects of the flower industry.

Board Elections 2018 - Call for Nominations

NZPPI is calling for nominations for Board members for two Sector Board Seats:

• Food Production – representing plant producers selling their plant products predominantly to those involved in the production of plants for fruit, vegetable and other food crops.
• Forestry – representing plant producers selling seedlings for forestry.

Nominators need to be a member of one of these two Sectors to nominate someone for the Board positions and to vote. The person nominated for a Board position must be a Producer member of NZPPI but does not have to be a member of one of these two sectors. Successful candidates will serve on the Board for three years.

Vince Wylaars (food production) and Patrick Murray (forestry) currently represent these producer sectors. They shall retire at NZPPI’s June AGM and have both made themselves available for re-nomination.

There is a nomination form here, and nominations close 5pm, Monday 19 March 2018.

If you'd like to know more, talk with a Board member, they’re listed here.

2018 Young Achiever Competition Opens

The Young Achiever Award is an annual competition run by New Zealand Plant Producers to find the best young nursery person in the country.

It aims to reward and encourage young people who are excelling in their chosen career. Applicants must be under 30 years who have a love for the nursery and garden industry and have an excellent knowledge of the products they deal with plus can demonstrate managerial ability.

The Young Achiever competition will push entrants to learn valuable new skills, give them exceptional networking opportunities with industry leaders and boost their careers.

Applicants are assessed by a panel of industry professionals, and three finalists selected. The finalists are accommodated to attend the NZPPI Conference June 27 & 28 in Rotorua, where they participate in a series of activities to test their skills whilst being scored and assessed by the judges. The winner is announced at the Gala Dinner.

The winner of Young Achiever will go on to represent the nursery industry at the Young Horticulturist of the Year competition where they will compete for their share of $40,000 worth of prizes.

The entry form will be available shortly so start the conversation now with your employees / employer. For more information and to check out past winners, visit the website here.

NZPPI Biosecurity Scheme

NZPPI continues to make progress on the development of a biosecurity scheme for plant production. The purpose of this scheme is to build the systems our industry needs to manage biosecurity in the future.

We face a number of biosecurity threats and therefore need to build our capability to respond to future incursions. This is a sector wide effort and includes preventing a crisis and then being able to respond quickly and effectively when needed.

As the scheme will be owned by the industry, it is important that the businesses that will use the scheme have a say in the standards they have to meet. Over the coming weeks, NZPPI will seek feedback on a number of these standards. The feedback we receive will be considered before finalising and implementing the standards.

Draft standards will be made available for comment on the NZPPI website and through our biosecurity updates and our newsletter.

MPI report shows public support for horticulture

A recent report released by MPI shows that the horticulture industry holds the number one spot when it comes to public support. While some parts of the primary sector have struggled with their public perception in recent years, it is pleasing to see that there is still strong public support for our sector.

The survey shows that this support comes from our positive contribution to the economy, our products, the growth of the sector and because it is not hard on the environment.

Read the full report here.

Join NZPPI in the new year

April 1 marks the first day of the NZPPI membership year. It is the best time to join NZPPI to make sure that you get the maximum benefit.

If you have been considering joining NZPPI, now is the time to sign up. Get in touch to discuss the benefits and to find out how you can sign up for the coming year.

A membership form is available on the website, or phone us on 04 9183511