Head propagator at Southern Woods Nursery in Christchurch Lydia O’Dowd used her 2023 Young Plant Producer and Young Hort competition winnings to visit a wide variety of overseas plant production operations.

In her own words, Lydia shares below what she learned at each stage of her Asian and European travels and what knowledge she can bring to production practices here in New Zealand.

"Following my incredible experience competing in the 2023 Young Plant Producer and Young Horticulturist competitions, I set off on an expedition to learn from some of the most innovative, ancient and technologically advanced systems in global horticulture. I felt that glimpses into the future of New Zealand's horticulture sector could be found within the success of established businesses around the world.

I designed my itinerary to experience horticulture at both ends of the technological spectrum; from the ancient rice terraces of the Philippines, to the ultra-modern Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, through the grand Aalsmeer Flower Auction in the Netherlands, and finally, to Belgium’s cutting-edge biological control company, Biobest.

Philipines

I began in the Philippines with a four-day trek through the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Batad and Banaue Rice Terraces, nestled high in the mountains of Ifugao Province. Hiking through the jungle to remote villages, I learnt directly from locals and my knowledgable guide, Brijhet from AdvenTours. The terraces are a marvel of human ingenuity, carved into the natural contours of the mountains over 2000 years ago. They are maintained using intricate irrigation systems that harvest water from mountain tops and direct it to the highest terrace, where it is channelled and diverted down to lower terraces.

The production process begins with grains sown in nursery terraces. Following germination, seedlings will grow tightly for 45 days, before they are divided and planted into larger, prepared terraces. Six months on, the crops are harvested by hand, bundled and then dried in traditional stilted housing called Bales. I was fortunate to work alongside locals, experiencing the physically demanding task of threshing rice by hand, pounding it in a giant mortar and pestle and winnowing away the chaff with basic sieves. The changing climate brings numerous typhoons to the region each year, causing landslides and collapsing of terraces and the trails built to access them.

Here, I experienced firsthand the resilience required to maintain this ancient horticultural practice amid these natural disasters. The trek opened my eyes to traditional horticultural practices that still exist today and provided a new appreciation for the foundations of horticulture, which paved the way for the modern advancements we have today.

Singapore

From the Philippines, I flew to Singapore to experience the Gardens by the Bay. This urban oasis has been acclaimed worldwide for its incredible integration of nature, technology, environmental management, and imagination. The Flower Dome and Cloud Forest are home to over 250,000 species of plants and are among the largest climate-controlled glasshouses in the world. Through sustainable engineering, rainwater is collected from the surface of the two giant glasshouses and circulated in the cooling system. It is distributed to the ‘Supertrees’ which vent hot air and cool circulated water.

As someone who has worked extensively in plant propagation, I found it fascinating and inspiring to see such innovative and energy efficient temperature and humidity control systems in action. It inspired me to look at our industry from a new lens and I left Singapore with a renewed understanding of how large cities can create sustainable green spaces that serve both aesthetic and environmental needs in the face of climate change.

The Netherlands

The next leg of my journey took me to the Netherlands, where I had the opportunity to visit the world’s largest flower and plant marketplace: the Aalsmeer Flower Auction. The scale of this operation was immense, with 35 auction clocks selling over 30,000 species of flowers and plants. More than 43 million flowers and five million plants come through the auction on a typical weekday, moved on QR-coded trolleys. The facility was a feast for the eyes, with an incredible range of species. Some of the most popular being roses, tulips and chrysanthemums.

Michel van Schie, Press Officer at Royal FloraHolland, walked me through the huge facility and explained how the descending Dutch auction system works. Royal FloraHolland has ambitious plans for the future, in particular the implementation of the sustainability certification required by all growers from January 2027 onwards and the further inclusion of technology and digitisation of the auction through their platform Floriday.

Hearing about FloraHolland’s strong focus on sustainability made me reflect on our own industry and our collective responsibility to improve our practices where we can.

Belgium

In Belgium, I had the privilege of visiting Biobest, a pioneer in biological control solutions and natural pollination. This part of my trip held special relevance, as my Young Horticulturist innovation project was based on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and biocontrol solutions in NZ. Meeting with Dirk Aerts, Biobest’s Commercial Director for Europe and Oceania, I gained insight into the product line available internationally and the biosecurity protocol involved in breeding beneficial insects and pollinators. The headquarters featured numerous breeding chambers where beneficial insects such as bumblebees, mites and ladybugs are produced for global distribution.

I left Biobest confident in the vital role biological control can play in reducing our industry’s environmental impact and creating safer working conditions for growers. There is great potential for New Zealand’s plant producers to further embrace biological control solutions and I look forward to seeing this become standard practise in our future.

Next steps

Returning to New Zealand, I feel extremely grateful for the opportunities provided by the YPP & YH competitions, as well as the privilege it was to experience different aspects of global horticulture. Each country and business I visited offered unique insights into ways we could drive our industry forward. The ancient rice terraces of the Philippines deepened my respect for tradition and the foundations of horticulture; Singapore’s innovative Gardens by the Bay demonstrated how adaptable horticulture can be in the face of a changing climate; the Aalsmeer Flower Auction in the Netherlands was a prime example of a large-scale operation embracing technology and sustainability; and finally, Belgium’s Biobest provided promise of biological control as a cornerstone of sustainable crop management in New Zealand.

By sharing knowledge with one another and learning from international leaders, I believe we can shape a future for NZ plant producers that is innovative, sustainability-focused and resilient."