Frost warning cools kiwifruit optimism

A bumper kiwifruit season - just when growers need it most - is being threatened by frosts.

Parts of the Bay of Plenty, the main production region for kiwifruit, were hit by the driest and coldest March on record and climate scientists are predicting early frosts for the Western Bay within a fortnight.

The kiwifruit picking season, which has just started, usually stretches into early June.

Early frosts could force growers to take extreme measures to protect their harvests, such as flying helicopters over their vines to blast them with air.

This expensive measure can be cheaper than picking frost-ravaged kiwifruit, which adds dramatically to packing costs because damage often appears only after the fruit has been stored in packhouses.

The orchards most at risk are in low-lying areas.

The chief executive of the Western Bay's Apata Centrepac post-harvest and packing firm, Stuart Weston, said this season was shaping as the biggest in at least a decade, with 76 million trays expected nationally.

Dealing with frost-affected fruit was a nightmare, and growers were concerned.

"This is the big one - we've got a monster crop to deal with," Weston said. "Our main concern is watching to see if the snow on the central plateau melts. If it doesn't, we've got trouble."

Growers are already facing the end of six consecutive seasons of record returns, and have been told to cut estimates for this season by $1 a tray, because of the strength of the New Zealand dollar.

But Zespri chief executive Tim Goodacre told growers last month bigger crop volumes this year could soften the impact of the downturn.

"With the increase in volume the overall orchard return may not be significantly down on previous years, but certainly the per tray return will be down," Goodacre said.

But his comments were based on expected good growing conditions and a larger crop of green and gold, as well as a higher size profile for the fruit.

Now doubt has been cast on the chances of a trouble-free harvest.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has released a climate outlook for the next three months showing the late autumn will be colder and drier than normal, continuing the trend from last month.

Parts of the Bay of Plenty endured the driest and coldest March on record, with barely one-tenth of the normal rainfall. This compared with a wetter-than-usual February.

Other forecasters have said frost-prone areas will be hit early this month and there will be cooler south and southwesterly winds during late autumn.

- NZPA