When Ngāi Tukairangi Trust purchased two orchards in Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Poverty Bay) in 2022, the acquisition included not just 36 ha of Gold kiwifruit, persimmons and mandarins, but also a wealth of commercial orcharding experience in the form of long-time orchard managers, Bruce van Dorp and John MacPherson.
Ngāi Tukairangi horticultural footprint now spans four regions – Kerikeri, Gisborne, Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay – and four crops – apples, kiwifruit, persimmons, citrus. The trust also maintains investments outside horticulture. Bruce van Dorp manages the Kahui a Nuku orchard in the Makauri area near Gisborne and says the Trust places strong emphasis on staff training and wellbeing.
“Ngāi Tukairangi looks after all its workers across the four regions in terms of remuneration, benefits and training,” Bruce explains. “Our General Manager Andrew Wood has a strong focus on staff training and development, as well as health and safety across the business, maintaining good relationships with managers and the workers. We, in the orchard management team, aim to produce the best tasting crops for the local and export markets and are very well supported by the Ngāi Tukairangi trust to achieve this.”
Bruce has been managing these orchard blocks on this site for more than 30 years. Today, the site 9 ha of persimmons, 6 ha of gold kiwifruit and 2.5 ha of mandarins. The blocks have evolved significantly over the years, including being among the first in Gisborne to convert from Hayward to Gold kiwifruit in the 1990s. Bruce has also overseen the switch from Bruno to Bounty rootstock, which performs better in Gisborne’s heavier soils.
A Gisborne local, Bruce started in horticulture as a young teen under the guidance of well-known grower Bill Thorpe. From the age of 16, he progressed into horticultural apprenticeships on various properties, learning to grow kiwifruit, citrus and grapes. In the mid-1980s, he spent three years as foreman at Ascot Orchard in Waipukurau, growing nectarines, peaches and apples, where he gained experience with contract work and helped establish hundreds of hectares of new apple plantings. for corporates. Returning to Gisborne, Bruce managed a 20ha kiwifruit block in Patutahi before taking over what is now Kahui a Nuku, where he remains today. Bruce is fortunate to work with another highly-experienced orchardist, John MacPherson as the Orchard Manager of the second Ngāi Tukairangi site in the region, Kahui a Rangi.
John has managed this orchard for decades prior to the Ngāi Tukairangi purchase, and the site currently has 11 ha of persimmons and 8ha of Gold kiwifruit. Coming from a Gisborne farming background, John pursued accountancy upon leaving school. In 1984, he commenced employment with Thorpe Horticulture Ltd which, at the time, was heavily involved in maintaining new orchard developments and all the workings that come with them. In 1987, John moved into leadership roles in the Gisborne orchards, undertaking the introduction and growing of different varieties of kiwifruit, nashi, persimmons, and mandarins. Both orchards supply local and export markets with export fruit destined for Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, USA, and Vietnam.
Bruce says each orchard has 10 to 12 permanent staff. “We combine teams from both orchards for the kiwifruit harvest and top up with seasonal workers for harvest of all crops from March to early June and again for kiwifruit thinning from October to early December. Our permanent crews do the pruning and general orchard work, maintenance and tractor work. “Our orchard teams work closely together throughout the year to share knowledge and feed into decision-making based on seasonal and environmental changes. We also liaise with the other Ngāi Tukairangi regional orchard managers to share ideas and information on our kiwifruit crops.” Thanks to careful management, the Ngāi Tukairangi kiwifruit blocks tend not to face significant risk of Psa infection and scale is the insect pest Bruce says requires the greatest attention.
In the persimmon blocks, the focus is on regular monitoring for leafroller, thrips and mealybugs. A robust crop protection programme helps maintain fruit quality. Bruce notes that growing conditions in the region are changing. “Autumns are wetter and summers not as hot as they used to be. Despite this, through good orchard management, we can keep on top of Psa and other pests.” A change in the way their kiwifruit vines are planted has helped counter the increased rainfall and keep vines healthy.
“We have V-ed all our rows, so the vine root systems are elevated, and the water runs off into the middle of the rows. We then rip the middle of the rows, so water drains better down to the field tiles. We have also added a lot more compost around vines to counter what are quite heavy soils which previously had little organic matter. Annual soil and foliar tests are used to plan our fertiliser programme with a focus on soil nutrients, plant health and crop yield.”
Bruce has worked with Fruitfed Supplies also spans a fair period of time with their relatively-new Technical Horticultural Representative Cristiano Padilha slotting into the established routine of regular catchups to support Bruce and John with orchard management supplies and ag-chem products. “It’s always handy when Cristiano can deliver supplies to us, especially when we are busy.”
After decades in the industry, Bruce has seen many changes in the local horticultural landscape. “It’s still a close-knit community, but the structure is shifting. Smaller growers are selling up, and corporates are moving in, largely driven by the increasing demands of GAP and health and safety compliance. It’s a different environment now, but one that still depends on good people and strong local knowledge.”
