CITRUS INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 100, 29 April 1937, Page 14

CITRUS INDUSTRY

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

RESTRICTION OF ACREAGE PROPOSED

Citrus fruit' culture in New Zealand is almost entirely confined to the Auckland Province. There are four main producing districts, namely, Keri Keri, Auckland, Tauranga, and Gisborne. The approximate total number of citrus trees in the above districts is 76,675 lemon trees and 42,680 orange trees. Many of the trees of both kinds have not yet reached, bearing age. The present estimated yield is 125,000 cases of lemons and 7400 cases of oranges. The citrus growers • are reasonably well organised so far as, the' commercial growers are. concerned' in. both the Tauranga and Auckland areas, and are rapidly becoming so. at Keri Keri. Unfortunately, there; is': quite '-.a' large number of growers : in the Auckland area producing citrus; fruits, particularly lemons,: as a" side-line. . In and around the city of Auckland considerable quantities of lemons are produced in; this way. These, create an embarrassment to the industry, in consequence of the manner in which.'they are packed and marketed, being, in the main, badly graded, uncured, and of inferior appearance..

The principal difficulties and weaknesses in the existing systems of production and marketing are;—(a) The absence of a sufficiently high and uniform standard of grading, curing, and packing, (b) The marketing of uncured and low-grade fruit, (c) The matter of the economic disposal of over-size and

other not readily marketable fruit, (d) The lack of an intelligent system of distribution and marketing, (c) The lack of statistical information. DANGER OF GLUT. From the evidence tendered on the subject of present production and that to be expected in the near future, when the trees already planted, but not yet bearing, reach productivity, there is every reason to fear that saturation point of consumption will have .been reached. As there are no" export markets available for our lemons the balance between production and consumption must be well kept, consequently, further plantings of this class of fruit should be discouraged, if not prohibited altogether, for such is likely to bring disaster not only to the new planter, but also, to some extent, to those already engaged in the industry. Similar caution should be observed in the case of sweet orange planting.

The mild boom that is developing in this country in the planting of citrus orchards, unless the position is controlled or guided by reason, is liable to lead to disappointment to prospective planters as well as to those already engaged in the industry.

If the Committee's information is correct, the situation which has developed is being used in connection with land speculation. The land speculator is, under the existing circumstances, able to foist on to the unwary land for citrus culture that is quite unsuited for the purpose and the inexperienced buyer is led to plant lemon orchards despite the fact that there are already more than sufficint in existence. Others are similarly induced to plant sweet oranges in situations where they have little or no hope of success.

One is naturally reluctant to suggest interference with a land iwner in respect to the class of fruit tree he should, or should not, plant, but, notwithstanding, the Committee is of the opinion that in the circumstances to do so would be the lesser of the two evils, and therefore strongly recommends that action be taken in the direction of prohibiting the further planting of both lemons and sweet oranges save under licence, and that no licence should be issued unless all the circumstances warrant a reasonable hope of success. The issue and control of such licences should be in the hands of the Department of Agriculture.

The Committee recommends that the citrus industry be brought under the control of the Primary Products Marketing Department, and that the Primary Products Marketing Act be amended, if and where necessary, to give effect to these recommendations.