Growing career worth considering

Young people planning their careers would be wise to consider the horticultural industry. That was the message from Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy at the Horticulture New Zealand conference in Rotorua this week.

According to the Otaki MP, the industry is gearing up to employ an extra 26,300 trained workers, many with tertiary qualifications, and skilled labour will be required from production to processing and marketing.


Samantha Mansel, Te Puke Seeka Kiwifruit Industries assistant quality manager, was among the entrants in the 2015 Bay of Plenty Young Fruit Grower competition. Photo: Supplied.

'Special skills will be required in areas like food safety, biosecurity, environmental management, and plant science,” says Nathan.

'Full time job opportunities within horticulture are as diverse as hand-on orchard or market garden work through to scientific research and development to marketing, to management at all levels.

'Both government and industry are acutely aware of this challenge. We know that we need a reliable supply of both seasonal and skilled labour from which the next generation of leaders can be developed.”

This was cited as one of the chief reasons MPI is working with the industry as well as schools to raise the profile of primary industries amongst young New Zealanders, including working to ensure there are strong curriculum and career resources for schools.

'We are supporting the EPIC High School Challenge to increase awareness of the primary sector and influence subject choices for Year 10 students,” he adds.

'MPI started a new ambassador programme late last year which gets industry leaders into schools, talking to young people about their careers and the possibilities out there.”

Nathan says attracting more young people to the horticultural industry is a shared responsibility and he acknowledges Hort NZ for the contribution it is making through the Young Grower of the Year competition, the 20 annual scholarships it awards and their leadership programme.

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