FRUIT MARKETING

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 12821, 16 August 1939, Page 7

FRUIT MARKETING

By 13 votes to 11 the action of the Fruit Control Board and the New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation in asking the Government to take over the marketing of apples and pears was endorsee: at the annual conference of, the federation at Wellington. The Minister for Agriculture and the acting-Minister of Marketing (the Hon. W. Lee Martin) said that a committee had been established, of which he was the chairman, to receive evidence and consider proposals to provide a satisfactory answer to the industry’s request. The committee comprised representatives of the federation, the Fruit Export Control Board, and Government re-

presentatives with extensive experience in production and marketing problems. He had suggested to the committee that it should consider the complete Government purchase of all suitable apples and pears. This would then leave the responsibility of marketing on the Government.

Such a scheme raised all sorts of difficulties, not the least of which would be the purchase price of the fruit, the grades, qualities, etc., with their. differential payments, and the assembling and distribution of the fruit produced in every area in New Zealand to the correct marketingareas. Cool storage, export markets and surplus and under grade fruit also created their own difficulties, which would need to be overcome before any satisfactory and practicable scheme Could be presented to the Government.

The committee had already sat for about three weeks and had heard evidence on every important phase of the production, distribution and consumption of fruit, and he sincerely hoped that its report would say to the Government: “Here is what Ave consider to be a scheme capable of supplementing the wishes of the industry and at the same time giving to the Government a workable scheme..”

He could assure them that . the Government would give the earliest possible consideration to the, report and would do everything possible to put into operation any reasonable and sound proposals.