Hail-hit orchard saved crop after allowing natural regeneration

A Tauranga kiwifruit orchard that was damaged has saved almost all of its export crop

A Tauranga kiwifruit orchard devastated by hail late last year saved almost all of its export crop by allowing the orchard to regenerate rather than removing the damaged vines.

"I'm still in a state of shock as to how good the orchard looks and just can't believe we got a crop off there at all, let alone the fantastic yield - it's just amazing," said Kevin Haua, chairman of Mangatawa Papamoa Blocks - a Maori incorporation which owns the orchard.

"Some other growers decided to cut back and sacrifice the crop, but we took advice from our orchard manager and Seeka Kiwifruit Industries' client managers. Conventional thinking was to cut the fruiting canopy out and focus on growing next year's crop.

"We decided against this and we are delighted with the outcome."

The hail strike in November last year cut a narrow, but devastating swathe through Tauranga's Welcome Bay area. The major impact of the hail was in a catchment in the Mangatawa/Welcome Bay Rd/Kairua Rd region, which mostly affected Seeka growers.

The Mangatawa Papamoa Blocks orchard had 22ha of Hayward Green and 0.5ha of Sungold (G3) under cultivation, all of which was shredded.

"The hailstones were as big as golf balls and we were up to our knees in some places," said Mr Haua. "It was total devastation. All the leaves were shredded as if someone had shot them with a shotgun and all I could think was, this is the end of our fruit."

Mr Haua, Mangatawa operations manager Paula Werohia, Mangatawa orchard manager Steve Law, and Bryan Grafas, Seeka general manager, orchard division, assessed the damage and discussed the options.

The pre-hail estimate for the hectarage was for 247,000 trays. After the hail, Seeka estimated there had been a loss of about 50,000 trays of flower buds. The insurance assessment was for a total write-off.

"But although the canopy was badly shredded and there were flower buds all over the ground, we could see they were starting to open," said Mr Law.

He estimated there were potentially 150,000-180,000 trays still hanging, and believed even if the orchard only managed to grow and harvest 150,000 trays, they would be better off than cutting back and starting again.

The owners were supportive of Seeka's recommendation to try to regenerate the original crop, Mr Law said.

One key factor in the decision was the fact that the orchard was part of the Kiwistart programme of early maturing fruit going to market at the opening of the export season in early April, which tended to get better pricing.

"We were confident that if we could get a reasonable amount of trays and get it into Kiwistart we would be far better off financially than accepting the insurance claim," said Mr Law. "We thought it was better to try and grow them back rather than cut it all back to the leader."