Kris Kramer-Walter in a kiwifruit orchard at Te Puke. Photo / Ben Lawrence
Kris Kramer-Walter in a kiwifruit orchard at Te Puke. Photo / Ben Lawrence
The work of two Te Puke-based scientists working for Plant & Food Research has been honoured by the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science (NZIAHS).
Principal fruit crop scientist Dr Grant Thorp has been made a fellow of the institute, in recognition of his sustained and outstanding service to the horticultural industry that spans 43 years.
Starting in 1980 with New Zealand’s kiwifruit and feijoa industries, he is now internationally recognised for research on almond, feijoa, avocado, kiwiberry and macadamia, with regular invitations to collaborate with these industries in Australia, Europe and North and South America.
Scientist Kris Kramer-Walter received the NZIAHS Postgraduate Award.
Kris joined Plant & Food Research’s fruit crops physiology team in Te Puke as a research associate in 2016.
Since then he has overseen several large on-orchard kiwifruit projects for Zespri, including studies on key topics such as understanding and reducing variation in fruit quality, and identifying alternative bud break enhancers to maintain vine productivity.
Dr Grant Thorp has been made a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science.
He has been the lead author on several complex reports, translated the results into grower articles and is often requested to present results to growers and the kiwifruit industry.
He is completing his PhD and will use the NZIAHS award to present some of his findings at the seventh International Plant Dormancy Symposium in Perth in September.
The NZIAHS Emerging Scientist Award for 2023 went to plant molecular physiologist Dr Simona Nardozza, who is based in Auckland.
Simona has taken a multidisciplinary approach to develop knowledge of how kiwifruit vines and fruit store sugars for energy and growth. This has helped answer questions about the accumulation of starch in fruit that underpins the Taste programme run by kiwifruit marketer Zespri.
Her work has also led to an understanding of the role of carbohydrates in the development of red pigmentation in kiwifruit and she is now a senior scientist and science team leader for vine performance at Plant & Food Research.
Fruit crop physiologist and Plant & Food Research honorary fellow Dr Stuart Tustin received the institute’s premier award, the Jubilee Medal.
This recognises individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to primary industry science.
During his almost-40-year career Stuart, based in Hawke’s Bay, has helped drive the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the horticultural sector, particularly the apple and pear industries.
His most recent achievement has been conceiving and leading the development of a totally new orchard design — narrow-row planar cordons.
The new system enables more incoming light to be captured by the fruit trees by reducing the spacing between tree rows. This is in the early stages of industry adoption and will significantly increase yields per hectare in the country’s already highly productive apple orchards.
The NZIAHS is a professional society for agricultural and horticultural science graduates and was established about 70 years ago. Dr Jeremy Burdon and Dr Ben van Hooijdonk from Plant & Food Research were elected president and vice-president respectively at the institute’s AGM last month.
