INZ Technical and Trade Association

 

The INZ Technical & Trade Association through its steering committee was developed to –

  • Drive the production and uptake of industry standards and associated training
  • Provide technical information to feed into the INZ advocacy and leadership activities
  • Act as a voice for the irrigation industry sector

Objectives:

The following list has been established as a preliminary set of focus areas for further projects.

  • Marketing of the benefits of irrigated agriculture – a collaborative approach to heighten awareness of the link to the wider community in terms of economic, social, cultural and environmental indicators.
  • Engineering improvements and challenges – a wide variety of areas can still be developed further. These will include - 
    • Water storage
    • Fish screen design and implementation
    • Back flow preventers and fertigation
    • Water meter installation standards for NZ
    • Irrigation system design parameters relative to production
    • Dairy effluent disposal technology and management
    • Energy efficiency of pumps
    • Soil moisture and climate monitoring practices
  • Education on irrigation technology and water resource management for farmers, the wider community, regulators and lenders.

A key driver looking forward will be enhancing ‘water allocation’ knowledge and new developments will require this issue to be explored in detail to allow the necessary infrastructure to be built for long term sustainable development.

However, the short term focus needs to be on efficiencies under current allocations, in terms of water use, energy use, labour and capital expenditure. A ‘grass roots up’ approach is required which is where there is considerable value to be provided by the INZTT.

The INZTT Association is to be lead by a steering committee which includes:-

  • Stephen McNally (OPUS International Consultants) – INZ board liaison
  • Craig Scott (MWH Global)
  • Doug Whimp (Water Dynamics)
  • Gavin Briggs (Rainer Irrigation)
  • Philip Darragh (PGG Wrightson)
  • Paul Donaldson (Water Force)
  • Gerard Van den Bosch (Bosch Irrigation)
  • Andrew Curtis (CEO INZ) will be an ex-officio members

The committee would be pleased to obtain feedback on what you see as the most important objectives of this special interest group as well as discuss further opportunities for technical developments.

Contact can be made through Stephen.McNally@opus.co.nz , Andrew Curtis acurtis@irrigationnz.co.nz