Nuts hold ‘significant’ promise
A report suggests nut trees could be the next big thing in Rotorua
An idea to bring edible nut crops to Rotorua could generate $20 million a year but would require ‘radical’ collaboration. Crown researchers have identified ‘significant’ potential for industrial nut crops and at least 5000ha in the Rotorua area suitable for growing hazelnuts.
Of that, 2000ha was roadside land, and another 3000ha was farmland suitable specifically for hazelnuts and gevuina macadamias, known as Chilean hazelnuts.
Former Hazelnut Growers Association of New Zealand chairman Murray Redpath said the average profit margin per hectare of hazelnuts ranged from $4000 to $10,000 internationally each year, so 5000ha of trees could make anything from $20m to $50m annually.
However, the eastern Bay of Plenty grower said it was hard to estimate returns in New Zealand because there were “very few large orchards sited on high-quality soils in ideal climatic conditions”.
Crown researchers Lania Holt (Scion), Alan Renwick (Lincoln University), Paul Johnstone (Plant & Food Research), and AgResearch’s Robyn Dynes and Warren King said growing nut crops would have the additional benefit of helping the environment by removing nitrogen and sequestering carbon.
They said rural entrepreneurs showed growing interest in combining forestry, livestock and horticulture crops, to improve earnings and “offset serious issues such as climate change and resource scarcity”.
The Government is allocating $240m from the Provincial Growth Fund for two initiatives aimed at getting more trees planted as part of the One Billion Trees programme.
Three properties in the Lake Rotorua catchment within 20km of each other were used as case studies for the research.
The first property involved Ma¯ori forest owners who were considering planting hazelnuts among their pines.
“They want to know if nut trees that crop annually, after five to eight years, could be intermixed into the forest, and if this could provide them more work options, more products [timber and non-timber], and timelier cash flow,” the researchers wrote.
The second property was a small block owned by lifestyle farmers who started trialling 70 hazelnut trees last year.
The other 450ha sheep and beef property was run by a farm manager for a small investment trust.
Sixty hectares of pines were harvested on the property last year and the owners wanted to replace them with a mix of pasture, livestock
Landowners are often reluctant to commit to a change of land use unless they can see a clear path to market for their produce.
and hazelnut trees.
Cross-sector collaboration would be “critical” to get edible nut crops off the ground in New Zealand, including with government agencies and research institutes, the authors said.
“Integration and co-operation among them is key to achieving the end result.”
They said land managers needed to identify groups willing to scale up nut crop production and reduce the risks by spreading innovation costs and sharing what they learn.
Overall they said developing the market would require “risk-taking, market insight, business model innovation, incentives, and radical crosssector collaboration”.
Currently, just 430ha of trees contribute to New Zealand’s hazelnut industry and the authors said nuts in New Zealand had yet to demonstrate “clear market success”.
“Nut product options are wideranging