FOOD PRODUCTION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 2 September 1942, Page 4

FOOD PRODUCTION

| URGENT NEED FOR INCREASE

i USE OF ITALIAN PRISONERS SUGGESTED VEGETABLE GROWING To meet the. pressing labour problem involved by the demand for greatly increased production of vegetables, tlie use in New Zealand of Italian war prisoners was advocated by Captain B. V. Cooksley, M.M., to-day. Captain Cooksley. who is president of the New Zealand Federation of Market Gardeners, ha.s been seconded from military duty to undertake the work of liaison officer between the Minister of Primary Production for War Purposes. the Hon. W. J. Poison, and the growers. Me attended a meeting of the j Nelson Primary Production Council J to-day. j Orders for Army foodstuffs in the j Dominion were so great, stated Captain i Cooksley, that urgen* action was need. ; ed to meet the situation, and manpow- ; cr was the chief factor in organising production to its ultimate capacity. Prisoners of war had been sent to Aus - tralia to meet a similar difficulty, and it was well known that New Zealand soldiers who were prisoners of war in Germany were being employed in similar tasks. There did not seem any reason why Italian prisoners should net be brought to the Dominion tor the purpose. It should be borne in mind that after the war such men automatically would be repatriated to their own country. LARGE-SCALE CANNING Captain Cooksley said that arrange- i ments were being made to can large quantities of tomatoes and other vegetables for the use of New Zealand troops and for those of our Allies oper. ating from the Dominion. He had been instructed to visit every growing centre : with canning facilities to see that the entire capacity of the plants was available. An important factor in assisting production was an adequate supply of petrol. Cases had come under hi c notice, said Captain Cooksley, where restricted petrol supplies had seriously hampered growers. If the Dominion was to meet the requirements, which he described as “stupendous." the great, est possible co-operation between the growers and the Primary Production Councils was necessary. Whatever auxiliary schemes were put into opera tion to bring about the required increase in production, the work of the commercial growers remained of first j importance The Department was de- j termined to discover what problems faced tlic growers and to do its utmost ■ to solve them.