<p>New Zealanders like to think we have a "Number 8 Wire Mentality" - a rough and ready enthusiasm for fixing and building stuff with limited resources. </p><p>New Zealanders like to think we have a "Number 8 Wire Mentality" - a rough and ready enthusiasm for fixing and building stuff with limited resources. </p><p>From the first Māori arrivals who worked out how to grow tropical plants in our cold, wet climate - to modern scientific breeding and robotics, New Zealand agriculture has always been at the cutting edge.</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/sSsCX_DNj3M?si=CwAWibMZt2XGF4Pn">Watch the video version of the episode here</a></p><p>But innovation isn't always good news for all people, or for the environment - so in this episode we dig into the history of New Zealand agriculture through the lens of innovation. </p><p><strong>In this episode we discuss:</strong></p><ul><li>How Māori worked out which native New Zealand plants were edible.</li><li>How Māori managed to grow tropical plants like kūmara in New Zealand's cold and wet climate. </li><li>New Zealand innovations in sheep breeding and shearing - including the violent disputes over wide shearing combs in Australia. </li><li>New Zealand's embrace of topdressing, and the devastating impacts of phosphate mining in Nauru.</li><li>A whole lot more!</li></ul><p><strong>For more on this subject:</strong></p><ul><li>Making a New Land edited by Eric Pawson & Tom Brooking</li><li>Three Steel Teeth by Mark Filmer</li><li><a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/inventions-patents-and-trademarks/page-3">Farming Inventions - Te Ara Encyclopaedia</a></li></ul><p><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/the-aotearoa-history-show?share=elf_audio_2018857955">Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details</a></p>
