Launch of `Our Land, Our Future”

I can't say I miss everything about being Minister of Education. But perhaps the thing I miss most, is getting to visit schools once or twice a week to see the innovative developments around the country which many people aren't aware of. It's good to be combining my old job with my new, here in my electorate.

A slogan some of you may have heard before is "Quality Products from a Quality Environment". One of New Zealand's big marketing advantages over our competitors is that we can say truthfully our products do come from a cleaner, greener environment than many others. It's not just about image, of course. Unless we maintain our land's ability to produce clean agricultural products, we are effectively cooking the goose that lays the golden eggs.

The Ministry of Agriculture has a comprehensive programme to promote sustainable agriculture in New Zealand. Education at school level is an important part of its programme.

We need to be pro-active. While our rural population remains static, as a percentage of the total it's falling. There's a risk that the importance of agriculture may not be emphasised in schools as much as it needs to be for the industry to remain New Zealand's most important. MAF's series of resources is designed to help ensure agriculture is given the attention in deserves in all our schools.

It's important that young New Zealanders know about agriculture - what it is, how important it is as the backbone of the economy, and how we can ensure it is sustainable. That's why MAF has gone to a great deal of effort developing the kits and encouraging their use by teachers.

You may have seen two of the resources which are already being used in schools around the country.

For form 1 and 2 students, there is Living with the Land which is designed to be used as part of science and social studies programmes. It introduces the concept of caring for the land, and examines the factors a farmer would have to consider when deciding what crop to grow or animal to farm. Students investigate a specific agricultural product to gain an understanding of product development, processing and the application of technology.

For form 3 and 4 students, MAF has produced Changing People in a Changing Land to be used in social studies courses. It also includes useful case studies for form 5 geography and technology, and form 6 agriculture and horticulture. It introduces the concept of sustainable agriculture and investigates six types of farming in New Zealand, explaining how each works.

Today, we launch the third in the series - Our Land, Our Future. It's designed for senior secondary students, and builds on the topics covered in MAF's previous school resources, although it can also be used independently.

Together, the three resources provide a comprehensive overview of New Zealand agriculture and all its different aspects. The need to ensure agriculture is sustainable is the underlying theme.

Teachers and students of biology, economics, history, agriculture and horticulture will find Our Land, Our Future particularly useful. It's made up of several components:

• four information and activity booklets, looking at Ecosystems, Sustainable Agriculture, People and the Land, and Marketing
• A New Zealand timeline which emphasises land use, land settlement, and the development of the industry in New Zealand
• three video tapes which support numerous activities in the booklet
• an interactive computer program - Stockpol for Schools - together with a manual
• a Statistic and Current Research computer disk
• a contacts guide, and
• a teachers' guide.

It's obvious the kit contains a wealth of information.

For example, in the marketing section - which I'm particularly pleased to see included - it examines product development, promotion and sales. Videos demonstrate these and other aspects of marketing for use in classroom activities. It looks at how agriculture is using technology to meet demands from consumers, such as innovative types of potatoes to make the "perfect" potato chip and new milk products for the Asian market.

The ecosystems section looks at elements of agricultural ecosystems, along with impacts on resources such as soil and water. A series of activities demonstrate how new technology and good management practices can contribute to sustainable agriculture.

The sustainable agriculture section looks at the economic, social and environmental impacts of agriculture. It looks at what's needed for sustainable agriculture, and who's responsible.

The history of land use and settlement section is important to build understanding of today's land uses and the characteristics of modern rural communities.

The Stockpol for Schools computer programme demonstrates the realities of day-to-day decision-making on a pastoral farm.

And so on, covering topics as diverse as genetic engineering, management practices that reduce soil damage, and "cleaner production" where dairy factories are turning waste products into saleable products, and adding to their profits as a result.

Every secondary or composite school has received one free copy of the resource, with those teaching agriculture and horticulture receiving a second free copy.

The production of the kit has been very much a team effort. Most of the divisions of MAF and over 20 other organisations have been involved. In particular, I would like to mention AGMARDT and AgResearch for their sponsorship of the three videos and the Stockpol for Schools software development respectively.

Many other people have contributed their time and talent because they recognise the critical importance of agriculture to the economy, and the social, economic and environmental pillars necessary to ensure it is sustainable. I support them.

New Zealand's historic success in agriculture has been largely because we've been smarter and more innovative than many other countries. Being smarter and more innovative is the only way we can continue to be successful, and become more successful.

I applaud MAF for developing this kit - the third in the series. I commend it to teachers. And I'm sure students everywhere will find it valuable in their studies of New Zealand's most important industry.