Horticultural production in New Zealand exceeded NZ$7bn (US$5.29bn) in the year ending June 2014, according to the latest Fresh Facts publication.
New Zealand’s horticultural exports have doubled since 1999, just shy of NZ$4bn, according to the publication put together by Horticulture New Zealand and Plant & Food Research.
Kiwifruit was the largest fresh fruit export, valued at NZ$930m, with apples breaking a new record of more than NZ$500m, with New Zealand-bred cultivars accounting for more than 20 per cent of exports.
“New Zealand’s horticultural land is highly productive, with the value of horticultural exports equating to more than three times the comparative return achieved by dairy merchandise exports,” said Peter Silcock, CEO of Horticulture New Zealand.
New Zealand’s top three export markets were the Australia, the US and Japan, with 30 per cent of exports by value shopped to Asia.
“The horticulture industry focuses on efficiency and providing products for high value markets, such as Asia. We are confident that the success of the industry will continue and that we will reach our target of $10 billion of production by 2020,” Silcock said.
