NRC/Supplied
Nursery coordinator Matthew Mabbitt releases the Pauesia nigrovaria wasps, in the hope they will establish in the nursery and eventually spread. Fortunately, the tiny host-specific wasp The Northland Regional Council has released 30 mated females of the tiny wasps at its poplar and willow nursery in Mata, south of Whangārei. It’s hoped they will establish and spread. The wasp lays eggs in the aphids to hatch and consume their host, before emerging as an adult, leaving their now mummified nursery behind, said councillor Jack Craw, who is chairman of the council’s biosecurity and biodiversity working party.
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Venture Taranaki s Branching Out initiative explores avocado
26 Feb, 2021 09:28 PM
3 minutes to read
Stratford Press
The Venture Taranaki initiative Branching Out is a collaborative exercise to investigate, explore, package, and potentially pilot new commercial opportunities that could add sustainable value to Taranaki s economy and help the region s food and fibre sector become more diverse, resilient, innovative and in-demand.
Through the initiative 10 to 12 high potential ventures will be identified and analysed for their feasibility. In October 2020, we hosted the project s first in-person event exploring kiwifruit as a high-potential venture. Now we will look at avocado s potential. Avocados are a proven success story in other parts of the country, so it is worth consideration and further investigation in Taranaki, says Venture Taranaki chief executive Justine Gilliland.
Scientists press to put regenerative agriculture to test
13 Dec, 2020 10:15 PM
3 minutes to read
By: Sally Rae
A call for proposals for projects that will investigate regenerative farming practices can t happen soon enough , New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science president Jon Hickford says.
In a strongly worded statement, the NZIAHS said it was concerned about the dearth of sound science underpinning the hype surrounding regenerative agriculture .
The organisation had published a series of articles from scientists from different disciplines in this month s issue of its online AgScience magazine which showed regenerative agriculture was more hype than reality , it said.