New Zealand Citrus Growers Inc (NZCGI) will commission a review into the industry's structure in a bid to solve the sector's money problems, reports The Gisborne Herald.
Speaking at the annual meeting in Gisborne last week, NZCGI chairman Rick Curtis said New Zealand's citrus growers were struggling to be profitable, and that the NZCGI would review the sector to see what changes could be made to help.
Improving supply chain and crop volume management could bring the industry closer together, he said. Although he admitted that there were no 'easy answers'.
'There are some big volume lumps, and we pay the price in the value of our product. These are issues we really need to start thinking about as an industry,' Mr Curtis said.
Grower reliance on favourable exchange rates for good returns was another problem, he added.
At the meeting, mandarin growers voted against a 1c-a-kg levy increase on mandarins next year, citing the current economic climate and slim margins as reasons to block the move.
Mr Curtis said the no-vote would have a major impact on research and development projects.
In the year ending March 2010 the levy generated almost NZ$45,000, and the increase could have potentially doubled the income, he said.
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