Blueberries Could Be NZ's Next $150m Horticultural Export
Blueberries have the potential to become a major horticultural export, earning up to $150 million within the next three to five years.
Trainees in the horticulture industry studying towards a certificate or diploma can now apply for Horticulture New Zealand's (HortNZ) 2026 Industry Training Scholarships programme.
Twenty-five scholarships worth $600 each are available.
The scholarships are part of HortNZ's annual programme of scholarships for New Zealand students with a special interest in the commercial fruit and vegetable production sector.
The scholarship is applied for at the beginning of the academic year and awarded pre-Christmas for keeping up with work and study throughout the year.
HortNZ chief executive, Kate Scott says the organisation is focused on supporting the next generation of achievers undertaking industry training or education with a vocational provider.
“Horticulture offers so many opportunities for people with a very wide range of interests and abilities," Scott says.
“That includes being able to earn while you learn, working with experienced mentors in interesting roles in orchards, greenhouses or field crops, or throughout the horticulture supply chain, while pursuing a direct pathway to gaining NZQA recognised qualifications.”
Applicants for the Industry Training Scholarships must be active in the horticulture industry and be studying towards a certificate or diploma.
Applications close Sunday, 29 March.
Testing confirms H5 bird flu in a single northern giant petrel, found dead on a remote Cape Palliser beach in the Wairarapa, says Dr Mary van Andel, the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI) Chief Veterinary Officer.
"What's for dinner?" may sound like a simple question, but for many Kiwi parents, answering it has become a job in itself.
Fifty Eight years ago, on the 16th of August 1968, August Claas, the founder of the harvesting company and father of Helmut Claas, personally presented a Claas Senator combine harvester to Scottish farmer John Steven.
New Zealand consumers are paying more for beef mince than ever before, with the average retail price now sitting above $24 per kilogram, according to Rabobank.
State farmer Pamu has delivered its strongest operating result on record.
Four years since it was first detected in New Zealand, researchers and growers now know much more about management of maize pest fall armyworm (FAW).

OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…
OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…