Navel orange growers have voted overwhelming in favour of renewing a commodity levy on the fruit they sell.
The compulsory levy, which costs growers 1c per kilogram on all oranges except those sold for processing, came into force in 2006 and was due to lapse in June next year.
NZ Citrus Growers says the levy will be used to fund research and development projects over the next five years.
It includes registering new agrichemicals and investigating options for enhancing fruit size, to improve exports.
More than 7000 tonnes of navel oranges are grown each year on commercial orchards in New Zealand. Almost all are sold on the domestic market.
