Sustainability in the New Zealand horticulture industry

This paper reports on a study examining sustainability in the New Zealand horticulture industry. Despite the growing body of sustainability literature, there remains a lack of prior research focussed on sustainability views, practices, benefits and barriers. The study contributes to the sustainability literature by providing useful insights into views, practices, benefits and barriers in a specific setting - the New Zealand horticulture industry. In particular this paper focuses on grower views of sustainability, the types of sustainability practices adopted, the achievement of benefits from implementing these practices, and the barriers to implementation of additional practices. A mixed methods approach was taken for this study. First an online survey was conducted and then several follow-up interviews were held with survey respondents. The study finds that a number of common views about the term sustainability exist; a broad range of sustainability practices have been implemented by a number of growers; few benefits are expected from growers and even fewer have been achieved; and costs and time are the main barriers to additional implementation. The low survey response rate and resulting small sample means the results may not be generalisable to the entire horticulture industry. This study highlights the need for growers in the New Zealand horticulture industry to be better informed about the adoption process of sustainability practices and the benefits that can be achieved. A number of approaches are possible including the use of education through industry networks and the sharing of best practices.