Disease fear for kiwifruit sector

Zespri, which has exported 100 million trays of fruit this season, says it has a crisis management plan if the disease is confirmed. Photo / Alan Gibson

The kiwifruit industry faces a nervous wait as the threat of a disease never recorded in New Zealand hangs over a North Island orchard.

MAF Biosecurity yesterday said a preliminary test had suggested a strain of Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae (Psa) might be present on some vines at the orchard.

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated (NZKGI) president Peter Ombler said the industry would be shocked by the news.

"There will certainly be a high degree of concern amongst growers right now just until they understand what the situation is."

Listed kiwifruit companies Satara and Seeka halted trading in shares yesterday, with a later announcement from Satara saying if Psa was confirmed it might reduce crop volume and lead to market restrictions, which might affect returns for all growers.

Satara chief financial officer Paul Moriarty said if the disease was dealt with "quickly and pretty ruthlessly" it potentially could be contained and its impact in the short-to-medium term would be not too significant.

"But if [the disease] becomes too prevalent across the industry then it will become a major issue."

MAF Biosecurity was working closely with exporter Zespri, Plant & Food Research and NZKGI to confirm whether the vine infection was Psa, which should be known by tomorrow.

Satara said last night its trading halt would be lifted today.

Psa carried no risks for human health and did not affect the plants other than the vines, MAF said.

It was an issue about the health of the vines, not the fruit.

Ombler said a strain of Psa could have implications for vine health, productivity and market access.

"But it's very early days and therefore we'd be making a number of presumptions, probably too many presumptions at this early stage."

The disease was first identified on green kiwifruit vines in Japan about 25 years ago and then in Italy in 1992.

Japan and Korea seemed able to control the disease, although the impact in Italy had been reasonably serious, Ombler said.

"There are a number of strains of it currently around the world and they seem to have differing effects as to how virulent they are and that will be partly the strain of it and partly how it's affected in different environments," Ombler said. "We don't know any of those things yet for New Zealand."

Prime Minister John Key acknowledged the seriousness of the situation yesterday but cautioned: "I don't think we should jump to conclusions."

Zespri spokeswoman Andrea Brady said if the case was confirmed action would be identified by MAF.

"They'll be working with us to put in place any type of agreed action plan and we'll be advising whether it is something that can be treated from a spray or the removal of the vine," Brady said.

"In the interim ... we're isolating the orchard that has been identified to have some leaf spotting, we're making sure we can restrict people and equipment flow to and from that orchard and other orchards around the area."

Zespri's growers are based in the North Island and top of the South Island, with about 80 per cent in the Bay of Plenty.

Zespri would work closely with growers to make sure they assess their own crops and advise the company of their status. "So that we can get a very quick identification as to what's happening across the industry and if this exists anywhere else."

Zespri exported 100 million trays of fruit this season, with about 5 per cent of the crop left to sell.

Zespri spokeswoman Melanie Palmer said the exporter had crisis management plans for such events.

"That's one of the benefits of the integrated industry structure that we've got, is that we can quickly get together the key players and start to disseminate information out."

THREAT

* Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae is a bacterial disease which affects kiwifruit species.
* Can be spread by airborne spores or on equipment.
* Never confirmed in New Zealand.
* Does not affect plants other than the vine.
* No risks to human health.