Pranoy Pal (PhD), along with colleague Gordon Skipage, was the joint winner of the Hort NZ Sustainable Innovation Award 2025. Pranoy is the Kiwifruit Technical Manager at Trevelyan Pack and Cool – the largest single-site kiwifruit and avocado packhouse in New Zealand. Across the regions, he provides science-based advice and support to kiwifruit growers to…
Category: Sustainable technology
Soil Health for Profit – Olivia Webster
Carbon Positive Year 4 – financials, nitrogen & yields Olivia Webster is the Project Manager at LandWISE. She leads the Carbon Positive trial, a six-year project comparing different cropping systems, with a strong focus on improving soil health and building soil carbon. She oversees trial coordination, field operations, and data collection. Olivia completed a Bachelor…
Soil Health for Profit – Dan Bloomer
Making sense of carbon movements. History of strip-till. Co-founder and manager of LandWISE since 1999, Dan’s career is diverse, with a constant theme of sustainable use of land and water resources. His post-graduate studies included an MScTech in innovation Management and adoption in the primary sector, and a PhD investigating the potential of ultra-low energy…
Soil Health for Profit – John Evans
A career in cropping – soil health, strip-till and biodiversity Past Chair of LandWISE, John Evans will discuss his farming career at “Soil Health for Profit” in May. Over more than four decades active farming, he’s seen a number of farming systems arrive and be replaced. John was exposed to soil improvement at a young…
Soil Health for Profit – Bill Ritchie
What are we trying to achieve? What is a good soil state for planting? Bill Ritchie is Product Specialist with Carrfields. Bill Ritchie was part of the team at Massey University that researched and developed the inverted-T no-tillage technology that was initially commercialised under the brand of Cross Slot and later Novag. The technology is…
Soil Health for Profit – Sally Anderson
Summary from the Cyclone Gabrielle Research Symposium Sponsored by Dr Sally Anderson is the Scientific Services Manager for Market Access Solutionz Ltd and is based in Wellington. Sally has over 15 years’ experience designing, managing, and implementing science research programmes for New Zealand’s horticultural sector. This includes co-ordinating the Vegetable Research & Innovation Board, managing…
Soil Health for Profit – Uttam Floray
Do all nitrogen amendments have the same footprint? Uttam Floray works at the intersection of climate science, primary industry, and real-world delivery. With a background in the wine sector across New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, he has led production, compliance, and commercial operations while embedding environmental performance into the core of the business….
Soil Health for Profit – Richard Pentreath
Should soil health be our #1 sustainability goal? Richard has more than 25 years’ experience across orchard management, industry extension, consulting, and governance in New Zealand’s horticulture sector. He completed an eight-year tenure as Regional Manager for Ngāi Tukairangi Trust in Hawke’s Bay, leading high value kiwifruit and pipfruit orchards through significant productivity and profitability…
Soil Health for Profit – Katherine Martin
Crop Stacking in Pukekohe Vegetables Katherine Martin is a consultant at Perrin Ag, working across agronomy, farm systems, and environmental planning to support growers in improving productivity and strengthening environmental outcomes. Her work spans vegetable and pastoral systems, with a strong focus on soil health and regenerative practices at the paddock scale, alongside translating research…
Soil Health for Profit – Simon White
Minimising cultivation impacts in broadacre cropping Simon White is a farmer and entrepreneur based in Otane, Hawke’s Bay. He and his wife, Lou, have built a diverse operation with soil health at its core. They have a mix of arable cropping and sheep and beef finishing across 1100 hectares which has been in their family…