Selwyn Times: December 05, 2018

12 Wednesday December 5 2018
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
ADverTOrIAL
Sustainability key
to organic farming
There’s something for
everyone in the realm of
organic farming but as far
as Bill Martin is concerned,
it’s all about sustainability.
The Training College
Manager at Lincoln
University’s Biological
Husbandry Unit Organics
Trust (BHU) is happy to see
a surge in enthusiasm for
organic food production
as younger generations
become more aware of
environmental concerns.
He says the growing
popularity of organic
production in recent years
means that graduates are
now taking what they have
learned into a broader
range of sectors.
“It’s not just about
growing, wholesaling
and retailing food anymore. They’re
going into schools and teaching primary
and secondary schoolers about the
importance of sustainable farming and
gardening and really starting to embed the
philosophy into the education system.”
As far as conventional agricultural
practices are concerned, he says farmers
should be encouraged to optimise their
production, rather than maximise it at the
expense of the environment.
“We need to change our agricultural
paradigm and re-evaluate our priorities.”
Mr Martin says those interested in a
career in organics should enrol in the
one-year Diploma in Agri-Food Production
course, which is open to students either
with or without university entrance.
Introduced last year, it includes Tikanga
and Mahinga Kai components and can
lead to employment in organic primary
production or other sectors related
to organics, especially education and
hospitality.
“The course offers a good grounding
in the principles of organic agriculture,
teaching the philosophies and histories
of organics and providing practical
knowledge of how they are applied,” Mr
Martin says.
Apply now for the Diploma in Organic
Agri-Food Production and begin studying
in February 2019.
Your Local Views
Weedons
resident
Gary
Doyle
responds
to the
Selwyn
Times
article on a proposal
for Selwyn residents
to contribute to the
operating costs of the
planned Christchurch
stadium
I was rather surprised at
the comments from Gerald
Carter on page 8 of the
November 28 edition.
To suggest that parts of
Selwyn should be amalgamated
into Christchurch
while leaving other areas
out is an extremely short
sighted view of the situation.
Christchurch would
dearly love to include Tai
Tapu, Lincoln, Rolleston
and West Melton into a
greater Christchurch area.
This would give
Christchurch a huge rating
area to help pay for any
enterprises they may have,
and totally to the detriment
of those ratepayers in
the areas mentioned. Then
of course the outer areas
would be of no interest, to
big, not enough revenue so
just dump them.
Leave the boundaries
exactly as they are, let
those who will profit from
development put their
hands into their pockets.
Hotels, motels, cafes,
bars, eateries etc. The
country areas are not a
cash cow to be exploited.
Southbridge
resident John
Summers responds
to Selwyn MP Amy
Adam’s column
on four-laning the
highway between
Christchurch and
Ashburton.
One of Amy Adams’
first utterances, early in
the term of the coalition
Government was “it’s a tax
and spend Labour Government.”
A bit silly I thought at
the time because taxing
and spending is what
Govenments of all persuasions
do. Now though, Mrs
Adams thinks the Government
should be spending
SELWYN TIMES
on upgrading and four
laning state highway one to
Ashburton as National had
planned to do.
Apparently spending
is okay. If it is on her pet
projects.
I recall many roading
and bridging improvements
promised by National
prior to the Northland
by-election but not one of
them was even consented.
Besides this it is at least
arguable wether more motorways
contribute to safer
motoring.
Our road toll rises
inexorably, in spite of continuous
roading improvements,
because of our poor
driving habits.
Personally, I applaud
the spending priorities of
the coalition Government
giving attention to our run
down public health system
and what National now
agrees is a housing crisis,
to name but two.
Grow a career
in organics
Lincoln University’s Diploma in Organic Agri-Food Production will prepare
you for work in the organic sector or your own garden or smallholdings. It’s
a full-time, one-year programme that covers the theory and practice behind
contemporary organic agri-food production.
Join us in February to find out what growing organically on an agricultural
scale really means.
Learn more at www.lincoln.ac.nz or call 0800 10 60 10.
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