The fragile magic of highly productive land

The Government has unveiled plans to beef up protection of highly productive land, Newsroom reports. In breadbaskets, like Pukekohe in south Auckland, we grow food that feeds New Zealanders, and is exported around the world. About 60% of the world’s radish seed is grown in Aotearoa, as well as 40% of the world’s carrot seed. Highly productive land is valuable due to its scarcity – only about 15% of Aotearoa’s total land area is highly-productive – and its fragility. “It’s very, very hard to recover degraded soil,” says Sam Carrick, a soil scientist.