Fruit
Off Like a Rockit
New Zealand's tiny Rockit apples are proving a real hit with both consumers and growers. They're returning more than any other apple variety and demand is sky-rocketing in Asia. Audio, Gallery
Midday Rural News for 11 November 2019
The farmer-owned meat Co-op, Alliance Group has taken on 40 staff members of an Oamaru meat company which was forced to suspend exports to China. Audio
Rick Stein: 'I keep asking to do a New Zealand food series'
Rick Stein has been visiting these shores since the 1960s, when he celebrated his 21st by eating crayfish in Kaikoura, and he's still pleading with his TV bosses to do a New Zealand food series. Audio
Enemy #1 - brown marmorated stink bug
Italy is suffering from a brown marmorated stink bug invasion. Damian Christie heads there to find out what New Zealand learn from their experiences. Video, Audio
Our Changing World for 24 October 2019
Italy is experiencing an invasion of brown marmorated stink bugs that is crippling the fruit industry. What can New Zealand learn from their experience? Audio
Choosing the Right Genes
Dr David Chagne and his team from Plant and Food Research are working on ways to speed up improvements consumers and industry want to see in our plants and crops.. Audio
How to store fruit and vegetables for minimum waste
Food wastage in New Zealand is difficult to quantify or break down into fresh produce wastage, but a study by love food hate waste suggests only 5% of households have no avoidable food waste. Dr Jenny… Audio
Fruit rots and workers suffer amid Hawke's Bay labour shortage
An official labour shortage has been extended in the Hawke's Bay region to allow tourists to apply for visa variations -- but orchardists say it's too little too late, and they're calling on the… Audio
Growing on
Graham Jensen has been growing fruit just north of Auckland for 42 years. He used to be one of hundreds of orchardists in the Auckland area - now only four remain. Audio
Hawke's Bay growers say long term labour solution needed
Pipfruit growers in Hawke's Bay who feared their fruit being left to rot have welcomed the Government's declaration of a seasonal labour shortage. The move will allow some visitor visa-holders to take… Video, Audio
How to make plum jam - with Julie Biuso
Award-winning chef and food writer Julie Biuso's favourite jam is plum. She shares her recipe and gives us a Jam Making 101 on how to create the perfect jam. Audio
The market gardening couple flourishing in Sefton and on social media
Cam and Melissa Booker grow more than 30 varieties of fruit and vegetables at their market garden in North Canterbury. All the produce, as well as apples from the family orchard in Motueka, is sold at… Video, Audio
The Canterbury school kids swapping screens for spades
Canterbury school kids are learning how to grow and care for trees with the Orchards in Schools programme. The Canterbury Horticultural Society supplies schools with apple, pear and plum trees… Audio, Gallery
Fruit growers furious with MPI over destroyed seedlings
A leading Hawke's Bay orchardist says a decision by a US company to stop selling fruit trees to New Zealand could cost the industry billions of dollars. Last month the Ministry of Primary Industries… Audio
Putting cardboard boxes to the test
Cardboard boxes are the workhorse of the economy, and Scion has a special facility to test them and better understand why they sometimes fail. Video, Audio
Stickergate - Do we need stickers on fruit?
They're small in isolation, but when added up stickers from fruit are leaving a massive environmental footprint. Zac Fleming meets a man who is on a crusade to change that. Video, Audio
European Farming Insights
Former RNZ Rural News reporter Alexa Cook is travelling through Europe with her boyfriend. She tells Cosmo about the farming observations she has made in Portugal and southern Spain. Audio
Urban food forest: Dunedin's George Street Orchard
Rory Harding wants cities to be covered in edible landscapes and his George Street Orchard at the heart of Dunedin's central-city fits firmly into his belief that bountiful plants can have a prominent… Audio, Gallery