The growing season for the Kaipara Water demonstration sites has kicked off with the Maunganui Bluff site planted out with squash.

The demonstration sites are at Te Kopuru on private land and at Maunganui Bluff on Te Roroa iwi-owned land. Both are set up as practical working examples of the ways in which different irrigation techniques can support land diversification and higher-value crops. Kaipara District Council (KDC) has contracted Northland Inc to manage both sites.

Northland Inc site managers Greg Hall and Jeanette Johnstone, along with the Te Roroa Taiororua team, spent a day sowing two types of squash seeds — Squash Delica and another hybrid — just before Christmas.

Half the site will be irrigated using drip tape, while the other half will go without.

The incessant rain has also delayed planting at the second site at Te Kopuru. The second demonstration site at Te Kopuru will host sunflowers, watered by a 242m centre pivot irrigator. The sunflowers will now be sown in mid-January.

Hall said it’s been a hard start to the season and a relief to finally get seeds in the ground.

“We’ve not been immune to the huge amounts of rain severely affecting farmers all over Northland. The wet weather has caused significant delays to the planting and has meant there’s been a flurry in the last week to get everything in the ground. We’re glad to have this small window of opportunity to finally get going and growing.”

Curt Martin, KDC project manager for the Kaipara Water demonstration sites, is looking forward to sharing information with Kaipara landowners and farmers interested in utilising irrigation to diversify their crops.

“We’ll have information available about the site crops and irrigation at the Paparoa A&P show [on February 4] as well as the Northland Field Days [March 2-4]. We’ll also be holding open days on the sites in the new year so people can see the working examples for themselves.”

The two crops have been selected to demonstrate the possibilities of high-value crop diversification with irrigation in the Kaipara. There are no registered growers of squash in Northland. Sunflowers are grown in Northland for animal consumption only.

About squash and sunflowers:

Squash Delica is an adaptable hybrid kabocha squash. The fruit is vine ripened, sweet and flavourful, maturing 45-50 days after flowering, and hand-picked from December to June. Kabocha is an Asian variety of squash, sweeter than butternut squash with a firmer, less watery flesh. It has fewer calories than butternut squash, and has an edible rind once cooked. In 2018, there were 24 growers in Aotearoa New Zealand producing 88,179 tonnes on 6642ha, returning $58.6 million from exports.

Sunflowers are also known for their lecithin production. Lecithins are often used for emulsifying, smoothing food textures, homogenising liquid mixtures and repelling sticking material.

Soybean has traditionally been the primary source of lecithin worldwide; however, sunflower lecithin is naturally free of gluten, soy, and dairy, and is a promising non-GMO product alternative. Irrigation has proved in some instances to increase sunflower production and yield.

The Kaipara Water demonstration sites are part of Kaipara KickStart, led by Kaipara District Council and supported by the Government’s Kānoa — Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit, with funding from the Provincial Growth Fund.