Friday, March 29, 2024

Massey’s hort sector partnership feeds graduate demand

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Growing demand for horticulturalists in New Zealand means there are not enough students in the sector. This has lead to industry leaders partnering with Massey University to increase the number of horticulture graduates. Massey offers the only horticulture degree course at university level in the country. A feature of the new partnership has been sector leaders invited to give guest lectures to first-year students.
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Sue Pickering, senior business manager at Horticulture NZ, said the horticulture industry earned $7 billion a year, of which $4b was from exports.

Horticulture “has ambitious goals to grow” and “we need more highly skilled people in our workforce to make that happen”.

She said the industry needed a range of graduates.

“They will typically become crop or orchard managers or consultants, or go into a post-harvest management role like managing a packhouse or grower liaison for a big supply company.”

Central regional manager of T&G (formerly Turners & Growers) John Crowther said graduates were the key to unlocking the future of the horticulture industry and he was keen to connect with students. 

“We have seen the value of having new people with different ideas and up-to-date skills. They provide innovation and help take the industry forward so it competes well in domestic and global markets.”

T&G were supplying fruit for a “fruit of the week” activity with Massey students as well as giving them a tour of their Manawatu branch. 

The collaborations were initiated by the first-year Production Horticulture course lecturer Dr Huub Kerckhoffs. He said it was a great way to start the week because it immersed the students in the topic and helped them get the relevance of what is being presented. 

Kerckhoffs said the fruit, vegetable and flower-growing industries could not get enough of these students, which included several studying by distance. 

“One student attended an industry conference recently and got three job offers while she was there. The industry is changing and taking more of a corporate approach, creating exciting career opportunities here and overseas.

“The roles include handling logistics, marketing, orchard management, exporting and so on. This means there are more skilled jobs that they need graduates for, and these young people can see some quick career progression,” Kerckhoffs said.

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