Warning that vegetable prices will increase if production is not prioritized in the freshwater reform

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New Zealand’s vegetable industry is calling on the Government to make commercial vegetable production a “priority of national significance” in its upcoming freshwater regulations.

Government considers freshwater national direction while advancing reforms Amendments to the Resource Management Act and the National Policy Statement Freshwater Management (NPS FM).

NPS FM has undergone a number of revamps since it was first launched in 2011, and the latest 2020 release was one of four national mandates for managing New Zealand’s freshwater.

However, a new report by the New Zealand Economic Research Institute, commissioned by industry group Horticulture New Zealand, said a new approach to national freshwater policies was needed as current rules restrict commercial vegetable production.

Creating the Economic Case for Vegetable Production in New Zealand The report warned that without national guidance specifically on vegetables, consumer prices for fresh produce will rise sharply as supply dwindles and demand remains to feed New Zealand.

Hort NZ general manager of strategy and policy Michelle Sands said 80 per cent of vegetables grown in New Zealand were destined for the domestic market, not for export as in other primary sectors.

“The difference in the outcomes of vegetable production compared to other activities, which also face complex rules, has consequences for New Zealand because unlike the rest of the primary industry such as meat, dairy, apples, kiwi, which are predominantly export-oriented, vegetable production is predominantly aimed at the domestic market.”

“So if we restrict our supply, we won’t be able to meet the demand and price increases from New Zealand consumers,” he said.

The report stated that the price of broccoli could rise up to $9 per person if production was cut by 20 percent as a result of proposed regulations aimed at reducing nitrogen runoff.

To avoid this, Sands said the government should prioritize commercial vegetable growing because vegetable supplies should not be compromised.

“As the government moves to change freshwater regulations, we encourage the small but irreplaceable commercial vegetable sector to move further and faster to ensure a safe supply of affordable healthy vegetables.”

The report repeated warnings that the sector would shrink under current rules.

“The impact on vegetable production is not commensurate with the national importance of vegetable production,” the report’s authors said.

“The different rules developed and implemented in different catchments under NPS FM 2014/2017 will significantly reduce vegetable production, and it is not clear whether there is sufficient guidance around national priorities for this under the implementation of NPS FM (2020), which are likely to change.”

Regional effects

National guidance on freshwater informed regional land use rules; many of these, the report said, “create cost and uncertainty and make vegetable production unsustainable or marginal in some regions.”

It said councils generally control nitrogen through general rules that limit nitrogen output per hectare and are “agnostic about the contribution to national priorities from different land uses”.

Although nitrogen leaching from vegetables is relatively high, their contribution to total watershed load is “mostly small” compared to other land use activities, the authors said.

Under RMA, pollutant discharge allowances are allocated without regard to national priorities.

Sands said regional councils needed to strike a balance between the local impacts of land use and the national importance of a stable vegetable supply, and restricting vegetable production was an unintended consequence.

The report said proposed regional council rules, such as planned changes in Waikato and Horowhenua, showed vegetable growing lacked a “permissible path of activity” compared to other agricultural activities such as rural farming.

“If vegetable production is not recognized at the national level, regional freshwater planning rules… will likely reduce commercial vegetable production… This occurs despite the importance of the national vegetable supply (a major human health cost) and the small contribution of vegetable production. The report notes that in most catchments, the nitrogen load is reported to be increasing.

Sands said certainty over national regulations would provide local decision-makers with better guidance on how to manage natural resource allocation.

The National Party made an election promise to make vegetable growing a permitted activity under the RMA within a year, but Sands said this had not been addressed as part of the freshwater reforms and no commitment had yet been made.

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