VEGETABLE SHORTAGE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 121, 17 February 1944, Page 3

VEGETABLE SHORTAGE

Labour Difficulties Held

Responsible

“The statement made by a representative of the Department of Agriculture, as published in ‘The Dominion,’ commenting on the labour position in Wellington district commercial gardens, does not correctly describe the position as we know it,” said Mr. L. V. Phillips, secretary of the Dominion Council of Commercial Gardeners. last night. “The statement said that if there were a shortage of vegetables on the Wellington market the cause lay in the dryness of the season rather than in the lack of labour. The opinions expressed by the National Service Department that ms there had been no despairing cries for labour from the commercial gardeners the position was apparently quite satisfactory, were used to support this view. “It is futile to suggest that there is no shortage of manpower in the commercial gardening industry, but this is a burden which is common to all industry, and commercial gardeners, as well as their fellow producers, have naturally to.make the best of the position. The decline in normal vegetable production in the Wellington district, about which there could be no question, is not fundamentally due to climatic conditions, as is suggested in the department’s statement.. The labour shortage is one of the principal causes of 'this decline, and growers feel that if the Government requires normal production from them adequate supplies of suitable labour musr be provided. “The Government has not made any request to the industry to increase its 'output of vegetables. .The, growers have accepted the position in a spirit of resignation and this is no doubt the reason whv no ‘cries of despair’ have been made to the National Service Department by the erowers. . “While' the services of students and pupils during the holiday period have been appreciated by growers, it must not be assumed that a farm or a commercial garden can be efficiently conducted by student labour provided on peak periods. It is obvious that there is a widespread failure to appreciate the difference between seasonal labour and permanent labour for market gardens. It is in regard to permanent labour that'the .real difficulty exists. and unless this difficulty is met the need in the future for seasonal help is sure to diminish. “It should be realized, however, that there is required both in farms and commercial gardens a suitable substratum of skilled and efficient personnel to ensure the continuity of production.”