Cultivating quinoa can become a new opportunity for farmers

The closure of vegetable processing plants by McCain and Wattie’s has affected 220 producers in Canterbury and 100 in Hawke's Bay. According to a September survey by Federated Farmers, one in four crop producers is operating at a loss. Amidst these challenges, Dan Cottrell of Kiwi Quinoa is urging agricultural producers to consider growing dry quinoa seed to meet foreign demand.

Cottrell has been growing quinoa for about ten years near Taihape and has now engaged 17 contract producers across the North and South Islands. Kiwi Quinoa is a licensed production partner for a Dutch saponin-free quinoa cultivar developed in the Netherlands by Wageningen University for European companies. In addition, an export contract has been secured with a partner in Canada.

According to Cottrell, New Zealand producers are helping international counterparts whose supply chains and production have come under pressure due to growing demand and climate challenges, including droughts and floods in southern Spain. There is also an increase in demand on the New Zealand domestic market.

The crop features a short crop rotation, low resource inputs, and a high gross margin with some of the highest yield rates in the world. The average net yield is 3.5 tonnes per hectare, reaching up to 5 tonnes last season. Fertilizer costs are lower than for cereal production, and the application of fungicides, herbicides, and other spraying is not required.

Planting can be carried out from now until the end of December, and harvesting in April. Some agricultural producers successfully practice double cropping by planting the crop after harvesting processed peas. The company is primarily looking for producers in Canterbury because a processing facility is located there, though other applications are also being considered (a production site is also located on the North Island).