New Zealand Apples & Pears is creating a pathway for young, educated professionals to enter the industry.
The peak body, together with Massey University and Plant & Food Research, has launched the Growing Great Global Careers development programme, which recently saw a group of 25 third year bachelor's, master's, and PhD students travel to Hawke’s Bay for a three-day field trip.
The students, all studying horticulture at Massey University, visited Plant & Food Research’s station in Hastings, before taking orchard and packhouse tours at Mr Apple, T&G and Rockit Apples, where this season’s harvest is in full swing.
New Zealand Apples & Pears business development manager Gary Jones said the programme is aimed at inspiring the next generation of industry leaders.
“Our industry is growing great careers and as part of this we want graduates who are able to use New Zealand’s horticultural expertise both here, and also around the world,” Jones explained.
Master’s student Dave Gallot, who is majoring in plant breeding, said horticulture was a dynamic and important industry with a wide number of career options available.
“Horticulture has a proven track record of sustained growth and it’s a socially responsible career,” Gallot explained.
“I’m looking forward to being part of a group dedicated to solving some of the important problems facing New Zealand’s horticultural and agriculture industry and the attendant global food security issues.”
Jones echoed Gallot’s comments, saying the New Zealand apple and pear industry is a global one.
“Our proprietary new apple and pear varieties are half our intellectual property and the other half is our knowledge of how to grow them well,” Jones added.
“If we combine both of these globally we will be a more successful industry in terms of accessing and developing new markets, and we will have a larger more skillful pool of talent to support this work.”
