New Zealand Tree Crops Association Inc

The Association had its beginnings in 1974 when a group of far-sighted enthusiasts in Canterbury were so convinced of the vast, untapped potential for growing useful trees in New Zealand, that they formed themselves into a small association. Later the same year, they and others of like mind met in Nelson and formally established the New Zealand Tree Crops Association Inc. The initial idea of these visionary farmers, scientists and gardeners was simple: farmers should plant more trees in their paddocks. Not just for aesthetic reasons or to supplement their income, but to develop a more stable environment. If farmers could be persuaded to establish a gentle landscape of shelter and windbreaks, woodlots, orchards, fodder crops and mixed associations of all kinds of trees and useful plants, then those farmers would benefit from enhanced pasture production through the combined effect of leaf litter, shelter and nitrogen provided by the judicious use of nitrogen-fixing tree species. As well, the combined effects of soil and water conservation, increased bird and bee population, and the revitalizing of our much-polluted atmosphere would vitally enrich the land. Other benefits would be an increase in the quality and diversity of fruits, nuts and timbers and their many useful by-products. Those original idealists were much ahead of their time. NZTCA members have quietly been at the forefront of research and innovation in developing new forms of productive land use. Membership has spread throughout New Zealand, and we have become an Association of gardeners, householders, orchardists, farmers, smallholders, scientists and researchers.