A new biocontrol Tamarixia trioaze, a parasitoid wasp which destroys the Tomato Potato Psyllid (TPP) pest, has been released in Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury.
These initial releases are the start of a wider planned release and monitoring programme that is being supported with funding through the government’s Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF).
The Tomato Potato Psyllid has caused enormous problems for the potato, tomato, capsicum and tamarillo growers in New Zealand since it was discovered here in 2006.
Since then, the industry has been waging a battle to control this insect pest. Tamarixia, a tiny wasp that lays its eggs on the psyllid, which then hatch and eat the psyllid, is a biological control option. Tamarixia is found in the USA and Mexico as a naturally occurring parasitoid of Tomato Potato Psyllid.
The Tamarixia were released onto African boxthorn - a TPP overwintering host, as there are currently no host crops such as potatoes or tomatoes in the ground.
The industry groups involved are now looking at ways of ensuring a supply of Tamarixia will be available for release by commercial growers this summer.
The application to release Tamarixia by Horticulture New Zealand's Vegetable and Research Innovation Board on behalf of industry groups including Potatoes New Zealand, Tomatoes NZ, Vegetables New Zealand, the NZ Tamarillo Growers Association and Heinz-Wattie’s NZ Ltd., was approved by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in June 2016.
| A HorticultureNZ TomatoNZ release || October 12, 2017 |||
An ownership dispute over proposed milk processing facilities in Southland has hit the courts, with a jilted group of investors claiming to have missed out on a major opportunity to tap the Chinese market worth at least $227 million.
The tussle harks back to September 2014 when Brian Wagstaff and Richard Young set up a company called Danpac (NZ) to build and run an infant formula factory and hold a minority interest in a site for a proposed milk powder processing factory that was to be owned by Mataura Valley Milk. They entered into a heads of agreement with Randolph van der Burgh and Geoffrey Pollard, Pure Elite Holdings, PEF New Zealand and Ever Health New Zealand that both parties would pour capital into the entity to build a dairy exporter targeting China.
Neither group ended up injecting their capital and Wagstaff and Young took back control of the entity, later amalgamating Danpac with another entity Bodco Ltd, which counts Chinese state-owned enterprise China Animal Husbandry Group as its biggest shareholder, bankrolling the processing plant.
A September 25 judgment in the High Court in Hamilton shows van der Burgh, Pollard and the PEH group of companies claim the agreement didn't have a fixed timeframe meaning delays to capitalise Danpac didn't breach the deal, and that the moves to push them out were themselves breach of the heads of agreement. They estimate their loss to be at least $55m from being deprived of the equity stake in Danpac, and at least $227m in lost value, the judgment said.
| Continue to red full article on TheCountry here || October 12, 2017 |||
On the win of the prestigious ‘Best National Event of the Year’, TAFT Chief Executive, Suzanne Porter, says “This is an award that recognises Taranaki, our partnerships and our loyal WOMAD audience as much as the festival. We thank our WOMADers and partners for their support and look forward to celebrating with them at the 2018 festival” .
TAFT Board of Trustees chair, Charles Wilkinson added "This award brings together a culmination of years of expertise, dedication and professionalism that's been given to this festival by our most wonderful staff. I congratulate Suzanne Porter our CEO and her dedicated crew for what they have so deservedly achieved at these national awards. I am so proud of them, as is my board, and I am so excited that we now have a line that we can exceed to take our Festival to an even greater level."
WOMAD NZ were finalists for three national awards in this year’s 2017 New Zealand Event Awards presented last night at a gala ceremony at Sky City in Auckland. They received nominations for ‘Best National Event of the Year’ and the the public voted ‘Eventfinda / New Zealand’s Favourite Event of the Year’. And WOMAD NZ’s Marketing and Communications Manager, Cleopatra Wood, was named as a finalist in the ‘Emerging Event Professional’ category. Suzanne Porter says of this nomination “We are incredibly proud of our marketing manager, Cleopatra Wood, for her nomination. The calibre of finalists is a true testament to her great achievements working on WOMAD”.
The 2018 EventThe full WOMAD NZ 2018 festival line up is being announced in Wellington on the night of Wednesday October 18th. Previously announced artists for the 2018 festival include Los Angeles saxophonist, composer and jazz superstar KAMASI WASHINGTON, the Indian classical and progressive sitar virtuoso ANOUSHKA SHANKAR and classic Kiwi band DRAGON who will be joined by many more exciting and eclectic artists from across the globe.
The internationally established three day festival brings together international artists to celebrate the world’s many forms of music, arts and dance. Set in the stunning 55-acre Brooklands Park and TSB Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth, WOMAD NZ has rightfully gained a reputation as one of the most beautiful outdoor festivals in the world.
The main stage is set at the base of a natural amphitheatre and not only provides a stunning setting, but an acoustic experience second to none. The other three stages are located throughout Brooklands Park, with every square inch oozing the vibrancy of the family friendly WOMAD.
Since the first festival in the UK in 1982, founded by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Brooman, WOMAD has held more than 160 festivals worldwide with 2018 seeing the festival celebrate its 14th anniversary in New Plymouth. In its tenure, WOMAD has had 150,000 visitors through its gates and generated over 100 million dollars for the local Taranaki economy.
As an organisation, WOMAD now works in many different ways, but their aims are always the same - at festivals, performance events, through recorded releases and through educational projects, they aim to excite, inform and create awareness of the worth and potential of a multicultural society.
WOMAD New Zealand 2018 is on at Brooklands Park, New Plymouth, from March 16 to 18. Tickets on sale from womad.co.nz
| A Womad release || October 12, 2017 |||
SEATTLE, Oct. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NutriBullet, the world's original nutrient extractor, today unveiled the newest addition to its collection of products designed to achieve ultimate wellness – NutriBullet Balance – at the Smart Kitchen Summit. The NutriBullet Balance represents the evolution of blending by providing consistent taste, and detailed transparency of nutritional statistics such as calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat and sugar intake, among others with every smoothie.
In partnership with Perfect Company, NutriBullet has taken the art of smoothie making to the next level with NutriBullet Balance making its mark as the world's first fully integrated nutrition extraction system. Featuring a revolutionary integrated, Bluetooth-enabled Smart Nutrition Sensor™ that connects to a devoted NutriBullet Balance app on your smart device, NutriBullet Balance is designed to act as a Virtual Nutritionist™ assisting consumers in achieving health and wellness goals.
The NutriBullet Balance iOS and Android compatible app allows users to track real-time nutritional data as they build recipes, customize recipes to their desired taste, set and track their nutritional goals, create plans for optimum wellness, build shopping lists, and track items in their pantry. NutriBullet's team of registered dieticians, nutritionists and food scientists collaborated with Perfect Company to curate hundreds of recipes – tailored to various health conditions, nutritional goals and flavor profiles.
NutriBullet Balance is available for pre-order now and will be rolling out to select retailers nationwide this holiday season. For more information or to pre-order the NutriBullet Balance, please visit NutriBulletBalance.com.
#3 - This scare was the harbinger of all the other panics on ingestibles that continues today. The background was that New Zealanders short, but fast flowing waterways failed to collect the minerals required for healthy teeth. The result was that New Zealand teeth were among the worst in the developed world requiring among other things mass adult extractions and huge purpose built dental clinics for children
The position nowThe unselfish insistence by the dental profession that fluoride had to be introduced to the public water supply brought this situation under control. Unselfish because it did the dentists out of much of their business. The anti-fluoride campaign is now associated with the extremes of the Greens.
| MSC Newswire Big Frights of Our Times Series #3 || Thursday 12 October 2017 |||
Water utility Watercare is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) for construction of the new Central Interceptor wastewater project in Auckland, New Zealand.
Bids will be invited for the construction of the Central Interceptor in two stages:
EOI – open from 20 October 2017, and will pre-qualify up to four contractor consortia. Request for Proposal – held during 2018, to award a contract for construction of the works.
The EOI will be released via Watercare’s e-procurement portal, TenderLink.
Once completed, the Central Interceptor will increase the capacity of Auckland’s wastewater network.
An earth pressure balance (EPB) tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be used during construction, linking the 4.5 m diameter pipe to 4.4 km of sewers, ranging in size from 2.1 to 2.4 m in diameter.
The tunnel will be constructed between 15 and 110 m underground and will run for approximately 13 km between the suburbs of Western Springs and Mangere.
The TBM will be driven through weak sandstone and may encounter mixed face materials in Auckland’s geology, which is overlain with volcanic soils and rock.
The southern end of the tunnel will extend through marine and alluvial sediments, and then under the Manukau Harbour.
The main tunnel will terminate at a lift pump station that will be constructed at the Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Shafts for the station will be constructed using a D-Wall method and feature a dual cell configuration approximately 40 m deep; the cells will be 12 m and 26 m in diameter.
The pumps will deliver up to 6 m3/sec through two 1.4 m diameter high density polyethylene rising mains into the treatment plant.
Connections into the existing network built under urban central Auckland will be made via 16 cascade drop shafts that are between 25 and 70 m deep, ranging in diameter from 3 to 12 m.
Land for the shafts – which has already been designated to parks – is owned by Watercare, or its parent organisation Auckland Council.
An option exists to dispose of tunnel spoil at a landfill operation managed by Watercare.
Construction is anticipated to begin in 2019 and to be completed by 2025.
For more information visit the Watercare website.
| A Trenchless release || October 11, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242