Regional growth study welcomed

The Manawatu-Whanganui Regional Council is welcoming the Government's regional growth study, which identifies eight opportunities for economic development across the council's 10 districts.

Four of the opportunites are agricultural, including sheep and beef farming, manuka honey production, fresh vegetables and poultry and grain processing.

The council's chief executive, Michael McCartney, said his region was well placed to enhance sheep and beef farming in particular.

"Given the fact that we have the largest area of farmed hill country in New Zealand, we're a big area that has good resources in the form of water and soils," he said.

"We're not as vulnerable as other parts of New Zealand to drought risk - so, from a sheep and beef industry point of view, lifting that performance by 1 or 2 percent across our region will have massive financial benefit," Mr McCartney said.

"That can be achieved through productivity, through a whole lot of technology that can be developed over time, and we see that as a real potential win."

Mr McCartney said his council was excited by opportunities to increase poultry and manuka honey production in its region.

"The poultry area is a relatively new one, there are pockets of that in our region. But again when you look at our land resource and supporting opportunities for poultry like grain production and the way the global market is looking in terms of poultry product, particularly Asia, there is a great opportunity for us to expand that even further."

Mr McCartney said the other area worth highlighting was honey production.

"In our central part of our region we have high quality manuka honey production which potentially can grow dramatically. That product demands a premium globally and, coupled with the fact that manuka afforestation can also help with things like soil erosion, it's a great win-win."

He said the council will now set up project teams, made up of industry leaders and iwi, to find ways of developing the opportunities in the report.