Are we really the clean green Bay, when for two months of the year, Hi-cane or Hydrogen Cyanamide, is use as a bud promotant, on virtually all kiwifruit orchards?
Unlike other deadly sprays, it has no smell to indicate it's in your vicinity. For many people it's a time when nausea, headaches, sore throats, asthma and other health issues seem inevitable. To my knowledge no testing has been done in NZ to ensure its safety. The short term health issues are a concern for our family, as we suffer every year at this time, but I can only hope the long term health issues related to this toxic spray do not prove to be of a serious concern in the future. Can we simply use Hi-Cane more safely? I don't believe so. Not as a rural community, where many school children have to wait outside orchards, and where many family homes are surrounded by orchards, and often spraying takes place only metres from the back door. What is the cost – to our community, to the health and well-being of our families, for the Earth, and for our future generations? Join the Hi-Cane Protest, Friday 13 August, 1pm, Zespri HQ, Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui.
Tania Davies, Te Puke.