{"id":336800,"date":"2026-03-19T04:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T04:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/336800\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T04:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T04:01:08","slug":"northland-kiwifruit-karakia-for-new-zealands-5-billion-harvest-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/336800\/","title":{"rendered":"Northland kiwifruit karakia for New Zealand\u2019s $5 billion harvest start"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leaders from M\u0101ori business, the kiwifruit industry, councils and the Government attended the ceremony for NHFT, one of New Zealand\u2019s biggest M\u0101ori trust kiwifruit growers.<\/p>\n

Ng\u0101ti Rehia kaum\u0101tua Kipa Munroe offered the pre\u2011harvest karakia in the kiwifruit orchard.<\/p>\n

He said its purpose was to acknowledge and bless the environment and Papat\u016b\u0101nuku for providing this year\u2019s harvest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s thanking Papat\u016b\u0101nuku for allowing all of this to happen on the whenua here.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ng\u0101ti Hine kuia Te Miringa (Millie) Nicholson buried eight kiwifruit in the ground as part of the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Each of the trust\u2019s six orchards contributed a kiwifruit to be buried, with two others representing other Kerikeri and Waipapa Seeka\u2011managed orchards. Munroe said this part of the ceremony was planting the seed for future harvests.<\/p>\n

Zespri head of M\u0101ori alliances Nigel Grey said the company was looking to further embed a karakia into the start of each year\u2019s national harvest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to hold on to tikanga. It\u2019s all part of who we are and what we do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t lose these things. It\u2019s so important to make sure our kawa [customary practices] still exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NHFTNHFT chair Pita Tipene (centre) with the trust\u2019s kiwifruit team supervisor Rob Manuel (left), a finalist in the 2026 Ahuwhenua Young M\u0101ori Grower Award, and management cadet Taoho Cooper. Photo \/ Susan Botting <\/p>\n

NHFT is one of New Zealand\u2019s biggest non-corporate growers, running Northland\u2019s largest M\u0101ori-owned kiwifruit operation.<\/p>\n

The trust has 32.17 canopy hectares of gold kiwifruit and expects to produce about 480,000 trays this season.<\/p>\n

Geoff Crawford, chairman of Tai Tokerau\u2019s regional economic development trust, said the operation was important for Northland\u2019s economy and a key part of the North\u2019s expected $80m kiwifruit harvest this season.<\/p>\n

Northland\u2019s strong M\u0101ori economy and leadership would play a critical role in shaping the region\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollaboration with iwi and hap\u016b will help unlock land development, cultural enterprises and sustainable resource management that benefits everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FarFar North Mayor Moko Tepania (left) with Zespri head of M\u0101ori alliances Nigel Grey at Ng\u0101ti Hine Forestry Trust’s Pukerau orchard at Waipapa to mark the start of the kiwifruit harvest. Photo \/ Susan Botting<\/p>\n

Seeka Northland regional orchard manager Dave Potts said the karakia was also a blessing for the people involved in the harvest.<\/p>\n

The company is working with NHFT to develop staff orchard management skills towards its kiwifruit enterprise becoming self-sustaining.<\/p>\n

NHFT is one of three national finalists in M\u0101ori farming\u2019s prestigious 2026 Ahuwhenua Trophy \u2013 Excellence in M\u0101ori Horticulture.<\/p>\n

It is the first kiwifruit orchardist in the award\u2019s 93-year history to make these finals from outside the Bay of Plenty.<\/p>\n

The trust\u2019s kiwifruit team supervisor, Rob Manuel, is also a finalist in the 2026 Ahuwhenua Young M\u0101ori Grower Award.<\/p>\n

NHFT reinvests earnings from its kiwifruit operation, rather than paying dividends to shareholders, in a bid to grow the asset base for descendants.<\/p>\n

\"Ng\u0101tiNg\u0101ti Hine Forestry Trust trustee Waihoroi Shortland tells more than 100 people at the trust\u2019s Pukerau kiwifruit orchard that the trust\u2019s horticultural operation on six blocks around Kerikeri and Waipapa provided self-determination for his people. Photo \/ Susan Botting <\/p>\n

Trustee Waihoroi Shortland said this brought economic sovereignty, honouring the call of Ng\u0101ti Hine rangatira Te Ruki K\u0101witi.<\/p>\n

Tipene said the karakia ceremony built on traditions from the past.<\/p>\n

K\u0101witi had taught his people to think beyond their own generation.<\/p>\n

The trust\u2019s gaze was constantly on the future. \u201cWe keep building, always together and optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said the trust\u2019s approach towards sovereignty was a template for Northland M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n

\u25a0 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leaders from M\u0101ori business, the kiwifruit industry, councils and the Government attended the ceremony for NHFT, one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[28848,180422,1558,8613,2082,8594,137334,23553,13489,117,111,43,139,1067,69,27979,44186,312,1962,4497,84091,102,2963],"class_list":["post-336800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-28848","tag-acknowledge","tag-been","tag-billion","tag-for","tag-harvest","tag-karakia","tag-kiwifruit","tag-leader","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-pita","tag-privilege","tag-says","tag-special","tag-start","tag-tipene","tag-with","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}