The Government's role in assisting the kiwifruit industry to recover from the severe impacts of the bacterial disease Psa-V is being investigated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
This announcement is contained in a Ministry report which said kiwifruit export volumes were expected to fall 21 per cent to89 million trays, and export returns to fall 18 per cent to $862 million, for the year ending March 31, 2013.
Up to 20 per cent of gold kiwifruit in Te Puke and up to 80 per cent in the wider Bay of Plenty could still be harvested next season, yielding an export volume of around 16 million trays despite the impacts of Psa-V, the report shows. MAF's half-year update shows loss of vines since the virulent strain the bacterial disease Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae struck in November 2010 could take production of gold kiwifruit from 30 million trays this year to 20 or even 10 million trays in the 2012 season.
