| 7 RURAL PEOPLE » Callaghan Innovation Callaghan Innovation is currently working with AgritechNZ as part of the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) to supercharge global growth for New Zealand’s agritech sector. Necessity is the mother of invention and KLIMA has been described as the best innovation to come into grape growing since the mechanical harvester — that’s how signi icant it is. Developed in 2007 by two innovative Kiwi viticulturalists from North Canterbury, Nigel George, and Marcus Wickham, KLIMA Cane Pruning Technology is a specialised stripping and mulching machine designed for the viticultural industry. Until KLIMA was launched cane pruning was reserved for premium grape varietals with the removal of waste and unwanted cordons and canes done by hand — a very physical, time-consuming, and potentially injury prone process. “Pruning is the most labour-intensive task of the vineyard calendar year,” says KLIMA Director Tina George. “Sta were getting harder to get and a big proportion of our labour source were local people who often struggled with the very physical component of manually pulling out the unwanted cordons and canes. By eliminating this manual part of the process we could de-risk the sta requirement for each season while retaining the skill and quality part of the pruning process.” By making the fruiting wires releasable and making strategic cuts to release the unwanted cordons from the parts of trunk and the canes that needed to be kept, the waste canes and old cordons could be removed mechanically. KLIMA technology along with the business was born with huge success both in New Zealand and abroad. Health & Safety compliance coupled with the need to minimise hazards meant that when using the KLIMA machines the chance of injury during the process of pulling out the unwanted cordons and canes is eliminated. Since its irst launch the innovative team at KLIMA has developed and re ined a highly e icient and revolutionary machine that allows cane pruning to be more cost e ective than spur pruning, decreasing pruning budgets and de-risking labour requirements by up to 50%. Manufactured in Waipara, KLIMA’s markets now includes customers throughout New Zealand and Australia, with new markets opening up in North America. From its original Generation One release designed for growers running larger areas, a smaller more diverse Generation Two machine has been developed that can be utilised in more diverse viticultural set ups. “The take-up has been huge,” says Tina. “Pre-Covid we were selling four to ive machines into the New Zealand market each year with about the same in the North American market. When Covid hit in 2020 we started to get orders from lots of smaller grape growers looking to de-risk their whole pruning season. Last year we manufactured fourteen KLIMA machines and this year it is twenty two”. Next level pruning technology De-risk pruning by reducing your labour requirements and pruning costs by 50% Manufactured by George Manufacturing in Waipara, New Zealand 122 Georges Road, RD2 Amberley, 7482 Nigel (021) 329-272 GEORGEMANUFACTURING www.klima.co.nz KLIMA Cane Pruning Technology is a specialised stripping and mulching machine developed in New Zealand, is the world leader in cane pruning mechanisation FUTURE PROOF YOUR VINEYARD WITH KLIMA PRODUCTS
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