Isolation has always played an important role in the development of the rural sector of Nelson-Marlborough region. Even by the 1880's, critics maintained that Nelson's agricultural world was stagnant, and that despite its many charms you wouldn't send anyone here to make a fortune.
The critical importance of geography placed emphasis on the region's natural advantages - sunshine, beaches, timber, fish, intensive agriculture and horticulture. Together with a need for self reliance, significant innovation has grown from the region, as well as becoming a liberal haven for artists and craftsmen.
Pinus Radiata was first planted in 1918, primarily for fruit packing cases. As the trees continue to mature, so too does the industry as a whole. Carter Holt Harvey's Eves valley mill was opened in February 1986, at a cost of $37 million. CHH now process over 5 million tons of logs from 820,000 acres of New Zealand forests, on a sustainable yield basis, as well as having interests in operations in Australia and Chile, that serve the Pacific Rim, Asia and Latin America.
The Nelson Pine Industries' Golden Edge medium density fibre board factory, near Richmond, opened in October 1986, for manufacturing products comprising of specially engineered wood fibre bonded with synthetic resin adhesive under heat and pressure. The plant capacity was doubled in 1991, and using the Kusters continuous press technology, with the addition of a third line, the plant now has a total capacity of 400,000 cubic metres annually, making it the largest single site MDF producer in the world.
The formation of the Cawthorn Institute in April 1921 for soil surveying made substantial improvements to agricultural and horticultural understanding of local conditions. Today, the private, independent and not-for-profit research centre's fundamental purpose remains the same as it was over 75 years ago, to benefit the region through science and technology specialising in the aquaculture of shellfish and seaweed, biosecurity issues, marine and freshwater science, as well as analytical chemistry and microbiology. In recent years the Institute has evaluated the effectiveness of mussel spat catching ropes, studied methods of avoiding mudworm infections in farmed Pacific oysters, carried out routine toxic phytoplankton monitoring country wide and contributed valuably to various environmental impact assessments. The Institute has come a long way from soil testing, and the introduction of Californian Ladybirds for biological control of aphids in the early 1920's. The Cawthorn Institute has helped rural land owners change and diversify into a wide variety of crops.
Early plantings of tobacco, hops, berries, apples, and dairy herds and market gardens, have been superseded or joined by more modern practices like sheep dairying by chairman of Federated Farmers, Brian Beuke.
Kiwifruit was the most common replacement for tobacco, from 10 hectares around Motueka in 1977, to 80 ha by 1981 to 1100 ha in the region as a whole in 1986. It may have passed its money making prime, but plantings still remain. In the Bay of Plenty, they are attempting to control the feral vine that engulfs 8m kohekohe trees and climbs pines to the height of 3-4 story buildings. Seed spread by waxeyes, blackbirds and rosellas mean alerting people to the 'silent invaders' like woolly nightshade, ragwort, old man's beard, and untamed kiwifruit vines.
Lifestyle block developments increasingly encroach the rural landscape, bringing with them such novel niches as South American alpacas and llamas, ostriches, organic farming and gardening and even small plantings of oak trees for the cultivation of truffles, while the first green tea exports to Japan were made in 1990.
Olives are becoming increasingly popular, though most seem to be grown more for love than money. Large commercial plantings are being seriously considered, and the infrastructure put in place, with nurseries now stocking a wide variety and quantity of quality trees, and with the oil pressing equipment being imported from Italy. Mike Ponder at the Ponder Estate in Blenhiem was responsible for New Zealand's first commercial pressing of extra virgin olive oil in 1994 to national acclaim, and its quality and success has been a major factor in the development of the olive industry in this country.
The Nelson Marlborough region has also witnessed the wine industry rise like a phoenix from the ashes after the Government assisted replacement of vines, to phytophora resistant root stocks and quality, classic varieties like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and pinot noir. In the last ten years, the Marlborough area planted in grapes has grown from 1,423 to 3,103 hectares, and Nelson from 45 to 163 hectares in 1999, the country's total area planted in grapes now exceeds 8,455 hectares, having doubled in the same period. The New Zealand Wine Institute is currently projecting exports reaching $275 million dollars per annum for the year ending 30 June 2003. (Interestingly, less than the Peter Jackson's film trilogy 'Lord of the Rings' being filmed recently out of Tapawera up on Mt. Owen, that will bring in $360 million.)
Our region, due partly to its isolation, innovation and diversity, now represents some of the best rural development ideas in the country, giving it a significant headstart over the rest of the country, particularly with regard to organic and sustainable agriculture, and innovative aquaculture. While we may not be making a fortune, we are all indeed fortunate.
