Getting out there with growers and helping them use new tools to increase profitability is what Summerfruit NZ’s new technical manager, Dr Sean Gresham, pictured, is really looking forward to once he joins the team in February this year.
‘I was attracted to my new role because it focuses on directly engaging with growers and helping them grow great fruit,’ says Sean.
‘New tools and guidance provide better insights into good eating quality. They can enable growers to achieve optimal fruit maturity, improve disease management, and lower environmental footprint.
‘There are also big opportunities with the modernisation of growing systems to focus on the per unit cost of production, as well as improve labour efficiency.
‘At the same time, the industry needs to increase consumers’ awareness of the different eating attributes of all the fantastic varieties that the summerfruit industry now grows.’
Sean says he enjoys summerfruit: eating it, being in orchards, understanding the growing process, and interacting with growers.
‘I particularly like being able to share knowledge – boil down it down and translate it for use in the orchard.’
Sean grew up in Geraldine and went to Lincoln University for his undergraduate degree. At Lincoln, he developed his passion for agricultural research, but it was time spent as a graduate student in the United States that got him into horticultural extension research.
Sean first gained his Master’s degree in Entomology from Virginia Tech then a PhD in Entomology and Plant Pathology from North Carolina State University.
‘These large, state-funded universities provide world-class research that directly addresses issues faced by growers,’ says Sean.
‘I really appreciated being part of a collective of passionate experts working to help growers produce high quality products.’
Sean also brings expertise and insight into crop protection product development, having previously worked for Fruitfed Supplies as an R&D technical advisor, and most recently, for AgFirst Consultants where he was a horticultural R&D consultant.
‘Over the next few years, at Summerfruit NZ, I would like to see good progress made towards increasing production and improving profitability, notwithstanding the fact that growing is full of surprises.
‘However, I think there is a real opportunity to ensure the tools and knowledge we have – and are developing – flow through to actual outcomes in the orchard.’
Summerfruit NZ chief executive, Dean Smith says he is extremely pleased to secure someone of Sean’s calibre for this role.
‘Sean’s appointment marks a shift to bring our R&D programme closer to the industry, directly addressing the challenges growers face. Our priority is clear: enabling growers to improve their profitability now and in the years to come.’