Grains, legumes and vegetables a growing opportunity
Already a regular feature on Taranaki dinner tables, crops such as sweetcorn, kūmara and garlic could one day become just as common on the region’s farmland.
Through its Branching Out programme, economic development agency Venture Taranaki is exploring the benefits growing grains, legumes and vegetables could bring, including restoring soil, building resilience and adding value and diversity to farming incomes.
Today at the Stratford War Memorial Centre, Taranaki farmers, landowners, advisers and food companies will get a chance to hear from facilitator Trish Rankin and Leftfield Innovation’s Nick Pyke, who was formerly the chief executive of
Foundation for Arable Research.
The event will explore the benefits and constraints of integrating crops into farm systems in Taranaki.
Attendees will hear from enterprises and brand owners who are looking to connect with local growers. These businesses range from livestock feed supplier BHL Feeds to Kinda Ice Cream – a company producing cauliflower-based ice cream.
In the past, grains, legumes, and vegetables had all been grown in Taranaki to supply the local market, Pyke said, but there had been a shift towards dairy.
Some crops they had identified could potentially have higher returns than dairy, while others would bring the ability to extract nitrogen from deeper than pasture could reach, or would help improve soil structure, Pyke said.
‘‘It’s very compatible with a dairy system, and although they may not be as financially rewarding as dairy, they have a case going forward from an environmental management perspective.’’
Venture Taranaki has shortlisted eight options: sorghum, food maize, grain cereals, faba beans, sweetcorn, kūmara, garlic and miscanthus. The crops would generally be grown on flat land during the summer.
There are early adopters around the region. Among the most high-profile of these was the Dunlop family in South Taranaki, who were growing quinoa alongside their dairy operation, Branching Out project manager Michelle Bauer said.
In June, Venture Taranaki released a list of 10 innovative, commercially viable food and fibre opportunities for the region. As well as grains and legumes, the list included avocados, gin botanicals, hemp fibre for construction, hops, indigenous ingredients, kiwifruit, sheep dairy, and trees.
The Grains, Legumes and Vegetables event will be held at the Stratford War Memorial Centre today from 11:45am to 2pm.