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Special horticultural Ahuwhenua trophy with Barry O'Neill, President of Horticulture NZ, Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Kingi Smiler, Chairman of the Ahuwhenua Trophy Management committee
Horticulture has joined the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy competition.
The 2020 Ahuwhenua competition will mark the first time horticulture is included.
Maori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, say bringing horticulture into the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy competition is a major milestone for Māori.
Mahuta told delegates at the Horticulture New Zealand conference in Hamilton that next year will see Māori farmers, trusts and incorporations compete for being the top Māori horticulture enterprise in the country.
“Up until now, the competition has only involved sheep and beef and dairy, but with the rapid growth and investment by Māori in horticulture, it is now part of the competition”.
O’Connor announced that government financial support for the event would also increase.
“Māori are significant players across our horticultural sector, both in the fruit and vegetable industries, and across the supply chain. Māori agribusiness will be a big part of New Zealand's future,” he said.
He announced that Te Puni Kōkiri and MPI will be platinum sponsors of the Excellence in Māori Horticulture Award in 2020. Part of this sponsorship will include 12,000 tree seedlings supplied by the Minginui Nursery, and made possible through the One Billion Trees Programme.
The competition is designed to promote excellence in Māori Farming and Horticulture. A special cup, identical to the ones for dairy, and sheep and beef has been crafted especially for next year’s event.
“It is an exact replica of the trophies designed by Goldie, the New Zealand artist renowned for his paintings of Māori leaders and communities,” says Mahuta.
“The creation of the trophy has been an international collaborative effort between The Village Goldsmith in Wellington, Te Puia, the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua, and the firm of Ottewill who are based in Ashford in the county of Kent, southeast of London,”.
Mahuta says Māori are now major players in the horticultural sector, producing at least 10% of the annual kiwifruit crop, as well as avocados and berries as rapidly expanding crops.
“Right across the primary sector Māori are excelling. They are taking ownership of their land, forming collaborative partnerships, taking their products directly to world markets and this all adds to the establishment of profitable and sustainable businesses that are guided by Māori values.
“Government is dedicated to improving the economic and social wellbeing of Māori,” says Nanaia Mahuta.
In a few weeks the winner of the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori dairy farm will be revealed at a gala dinner in Hamilton. In the past couple of weeks, the two finalists in this year’s competition have been holding on-farm field days to showcase why they are finalists. Peter Burke has attended both field days.
The finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy competition to select the top Māori dairy farm in the country are now busy planning and organising field days at their respective properties.
Two dairy farms – one at Mangakino in the central North Island and one at Opotiki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty are the finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy.
The finalists for the 2024 Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori dairy farm were announced at a special function in Parliament earlier this week.
Entries to select the top Māori dairy farm for the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy competition are being invited from all Māori dairy farmers, trusts and other entities around the country.
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