Selwyn Times: December 18, 2018

SELWYN TIMES Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Wednesday December 19 2018 13
SCHOOLS
ADverTOrIAL
Sustainability key
to organic farming
Lincoln students and
teachers help Nepal
recover from quake
Lincoln High School teacher Chris Stirling did some heavy lifting in
Pokhara, Nepal, where a group of 30 students are undertaking a threeweek
World Challenge. The students are helping people in Nepal
recover from the 7.8-magnitude quake which struck in April 2015. They
are due back in New Zealand on Sunday, and have been fixing toilets,
building retaining walls and making a mural at Shree Chandrajyoti Basic
School. The students have been split into team Aoraki and Everest, and
have also been renovating classrooms at Shree Aatma Bikash Basic
School. •School awards, pages 14 & 17
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.
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.