Japan is ‘not the only market’ for horticulture

Press, 27 December 1985, Page 12

Japan is ‘not the only market’ for horticulture

New Zealand’s horticulture industry should stop living on the “dream” that Japan is the only market prospect, according to a British marketing consultant, Mr Kenneth Milne. Mr Milne has just completed a six-week study for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The study aimed to align the Ministry’s research efforts with the prospects for products under study. Mr Milne told Ministry research and horticultural advisory staff that a lot of energy is being wasted growing crops specifically for unestablished Japanese markets.

New Zealand currently could not export pipfruit crops to Japan because of quarantine restrictions on codlin moth.

A lot of research is being conducted to try and change that, but permission to export pipfruit to Japan will probably come slowly, Mr Milne said.

Instead research and marketing energy should be directed into crops which sell easily and are already familiar to the consumer, he said.

“Forget about getting pipfruit or Asian pears into Japan in the meantime and maybe try to get Asian pears into Europe, South East Asia and the United States for ethnic groups,” he said.

Apples, kiwifruit and European pears should receive more research attention if New Zealand’s horticultural industry is to prosper.

Apples are an important commodity, he said, but the M.A.F. has only three research projects involving

them at present compared to 47 projects on kiwifruit. He accepted that pipfruit is the major responsibility of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, but said that if research resources are to be allocated for the best returns on investment the M.A.F. should divert more funds into thatsector. Maturity detection and post harvest research is not only needed on some new crops such as pepino but on traditional crops like apples and kiwifruit, Mr Milne said.

More work is also needed to determine the best harvesting times for various apple growing districts to assist the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board achieve its target of customer satisfaction. If specific markets are to be ‘targeted’ that should be done in a planned, logical way, he said. But before it could happen more research would be needed on picking dates and post harvest treatment of fruit, particularly apples and kiwifruit. Mr Milne said New Zealand’s horticulture industry does not know enough about optimum picking dates, and many growers may be picking far too late for consistent and satisfactory quality in the market. “They should pick at different times for export to different markets,” he said. Research into different growing regions is also needed because optimum maturity can vary between districts and sites. The findings of Mr Milne’s study will be considered by the Ministry when they are available in writing.