2. Agriculture in New Zealand
The agriculture sector in New Zealand is unique in its significance for the country and economy. This section is intended to provide a snapshot of that significance in order to provide a context for this case study of product stewardship for agrichemical containers.
"New Zealand is unique in the world in its dependence on a biological and natural resource-based economy and society. Sustaining and managing those resources will continue to be important to New Zealand as a society into the foreseeable future." (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry [www.maf.govt.nz] ).
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) estimates that, at current prices, agriculture contributes to approximately 20% of the country's GDP and accounts for 65% of our export earnings. For the year ending June 2004, our agricultural, horticultural and forestry export earnings were valued at $18.5 billion.
Figure 1: New Zealand's agricultural, forestry, and horticultural exports for the year ending June 2004
View image at full size (with text description).
Agricultural production also comprises a significant land use, using just over 50% of New Zealand's land area.
| Hectares (000) | 2004 | 1994 |
|---|---|---|
|
Grazing, arable, fodder and fallow land |
11,709 |
13,536 |
|
Land in horticulture |
121 |
104 |
|
Plantations in exotic timber |
1,835 |
1,388 |
|
Total area of New Zealand |
26,870 |
26,870 |
The value of New Zealand's "clean and green" image to this industry is hard to measure. One study has estimated that it could be worth more than $500 million to the dairy industry alone [Ministry for the Environment (2001)Valuing New Zealand's Clean Green Image] .
