When | 8th August 12pm – 6pm Where | Navigation Homes Stadium, Franklin Rd, Pukekohe

This year TomatoesNZ is holding a mini conference along with the AGM on 8^th August. This is completely tailored around topics important to fresh tomato growers. Please see below presenter biographies for information about the speakers and the presentations they will be giving. There will be lots of opportunities to ask questions.  There will be a panel discussion with seed representatives and Q&A with growers involved in our beneficial insect trial, as well as the opportunity to ask our presenters questions. Please complete the RSVP form here if you’d like to attend. For those not in the Auckland area, there is a travel subsidy available so you can join us in person in Pukekohe. The sessions will also be available online although, as this event will be all afternoon, you might prefer to attend in person. Please contact me if you’d like more details about the travel subsidy.

e-mail Dinah: dinah.cohen@tomatoesnz.co.nz

PRESENTATIONS

1: Working together to keep nasties out of New Zealand

a presentation by James Bertram and NZGSTA

James Bertram is a Client Manager and Crop Specialist for Rijk Zwaan. Hailing from Northland, James’ journey in horticulture began with a summer job at Fruitfed before starting at Massey University in Palmerston North where he completed bachelor’s in science. That summer job led to recurring roles at various branches during university breaks, and a full-time role in Pukekohe which James returned to after an OE in Europe and the UK. From Fruitfed, James joined Terranova Seeds as the Territory Manager for Protected Crops in New Zealand, during which time he continued his education with a master’s in management from Auckland University’s School of Business. Working for Terranova introduced James to Rijk Zwaan, a Dutch vegetable breeding company, and this led to an opportunity with Rijk Zwaan in the UK, however after six years, it was time for James to bring his family back closer to home when an opportunity arose to take up a role with Rijk Zwaan Australia. That role includes portfolio management for tomatoes and peppers in the Oceania region, account management for clients in the Pacific, and liaising with colleagues and customers to manage seed quality and achieve optimal results from Rijk Zwaan seed.

A large part of the role is to support Terranova Seeds, and through them New Zealand growers, however COVID made it difficult to do this remotely, and James took the opportunity to relocate back to New Zealand with his family when the travel conditions allowed.

James has experience in a wide range of crops, climates, cultivation methods, and international markets, all of which aid him in his commitment to supporting growers, colleagues, and the wider horticulture industry.

Following this presentation, there will be a panel discussion with representatives from the major seed companies. You can ask questions live or note questions that you already have on the RSVP form.

2: Controlling common greenhouse pests (whitefly, psyllid, russet mite, aphids & caterpillars) with biologicals as part of an IPM

a presentation by Lex Dillon

Lex has recently retired from approximately 40 years of work, in and around the horticultural industry. His last 25 years were with the NZ Hothouse group of companies, where Lex had a variety of roles encompassing sales and marketing, human resources and, most recently, managing the glasshouse production operations. Lex was a member of the Tomatoes NZ board for almost 20 years and was made a life member of Horticulture NZ in 2021. For the last 2 years Lex has been providing a grower’s overview to the A Lighter Touch – Tomatoes NZ project that is investigating and trialling biological control systems in tomato greenhouses.

Presentation overview: Lex will provide updates from the trials that TNZ has been conducting with commercial growers testing the theories discovered by Lincoln University, Emiliano Veronesi on the use of Engytatus as a natural predator to control Tomato Potato Psyllid. Since moving out of a lab and into commercial greenhouses, this project has now extended to look at controlling other common greenhouse pests to form a whole Greenhouse Tomato Integrated Pest Management, the written resources of which, growers will be able to take away with them.

Following this presentation, there will be a Q&A session with some of the trial growers. If you have a burning question about beneficial insects in greenhouses, please either note these in the RSVP form or bring them with you!

3: Best Practice hygiene for your greenhouse: the Dutch perspective

a presentation by Jasper Verhoeven

Jasper Verhoeven, product specialist for disinfection & hygiene at Royal Brinkman, grew up in his family’s greenhouse businesses growing cucumbers and tomatoes. In 2010 Jasper finished a BA in Applied Science and after several internships in the horticultural sector, he worked in vegetable breeding from 2011-2018, visiting a lot Horti-businesses in various continents all over the world. Jasper helped develop the HortiHygienz concept, where he helps, together with local specialists, international customers to achieve a higher level of hygiene in their company. Jasper enjoys helping horticultural businesses implement hygiene solutions in a practical way. Together with the customer, he devises an effective routing from the entrance to production area, or an extensive step-by-step plan for crop rotation, custom made every time.

Presentation overview: Hygiene is increasingly an important topic for most horticultural crops due to the speed of plant viruses spreading in vegetable crops and the risks of getting fungi and bacteria problems in ornamentals or soft fruit crops.

We believe that growers worldwide can achieve the highest possible return from their crops with optimal industrial hygiene. For this HortiHygienz offers a total solution for any company in the world. Hygiene is more than cleaning & disinfecting the greenhouse and tools. It is a concept; the HortiHygienz concept where different areas of hygiene all come together. We do this by combining products, application techniques, advice, installation, and service.

Thanks to innovations, the solutions remain progressive and appropriate to the ever-changing world of requirements and wishes of entrepreneurs and their customers to deliver beautiful products in a responsible manner. With the HortiHygienz concept we offer customers practical solutions for the challenges of horticultural hygiene.

Horticentre will have some of their products on display at the venue for participants to look at. There will be a special focus on supplies related to hygiene