horticulture

What usually happens when you cut up a piece of fruit to eat or to put in a salad? If it is an apple, a pear,...

In this activity, students explore ethical issues related to farming and environmental pollution. They learn about the science involved and the range of perspectives among stakeholders....

Hub's writer, Nelville Gardner, talks about our pollination resources. One of the scientists featured in the articles on pollination, Dave Kelly of the University of Canterbury,...

Farming is an economic venture – farmers work the land to gain an income. Many New Zealand farmers have an interest in preserving and enhancing the...

Just as we have essential needs for our growth, plants also have essential needs for their survival. These include: sunlight air water nutrients appropriate temperature. As...

Farming is a way of life in New Zealand. Farms cover about half of the country’s land and are important to our economy. Agriculture has shaped...

Flowering plants create seeds, which get spread away from the parents and grow into new plants in new places. Pollination has to happen before seeds can...

Dr Selai Letica from AgResearch at Invermay is concerned about the nitrous oxide emissions that contribute to greenhouse gases. Nitrous oxide Greenhouse gases warm the atmosphere...

In this activity, students use information to annotate a diagram of pollen processing and use this to justify the management practice of using processed pollen on...

What do soil, farming and science have to do with each other? Actually, they are inextricably related. For centuries, humans have used science to improve soil...

In this activity, students test and compare the firmness of different apple varieties using an instrumental method adapted for the classroom. The activity forms part of...

In this activity, students conduct focus group research to generate consumer feedback on a proposed future apple variety. The activity forms part of the unit plan...

In this activity, students use industry methods to test and analyse some attributes of a variety of different apples. They use the findings to create an...

In this unit, students investigate trends and drivers and what may be possible and preferable attributes for new fruit varieties in the future. Purpose To understand...

Commercialising a new apple variety can take 25–30 years from selecting the initial cultivar to market launch, and the process must be carefully managed. Managing the...

Position: Head of research, Plant & Food Research. Field: Honey bees and pollination. For Dr Mark Goodwin, working with pollination has its challenges. Most crop plants...

What determines whether an apple has red flesh? Find out how researchers at Plant & Food Research discovered the genetic basis of red flesh colour. Red-fleshed...

Information about apple genetics is helping breeders at Plant & Food Research in New Zealand to breed new apple cultivars faster and more efficiently. Selectively breeding...

The genome sequence of the Golden Delicious apple was published in 2010. It sheds light on the history of the apple and should make apple breeding...

Breeding a new apple cultivar takes a long time and involves many steps. The aim is to produce high-quality fruit that consumers will like and want...

A collection of apple genetic resources, known as a germplasm collection, is maintained by Plant & Food Research at their Hawke’s Bay orchard to provide a...

A new apple cultivar with red skin and red flesh is being developed at Plant & Food Research. Discover how the idea came about and why...

Find out how and why a red-fleshed apple variety is being bred in New Zealand, and discover how genetic information, consumer research and sensory science are...

Researchers at the Riddet Institute in Palmerston North have discovered that taewa have different attributes to modern potato varieties, which makes them useful for developing new...