Growers are learning to live with Psa

Psa-resilient grafted Gold Kiwifruit vines are steadily increasing production. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay Kiwifruit growers are learning to live with vine disease Psa, says Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers Association Kiwifruit chairman Peter Olsen.

Industry organisation Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH) statistics show 18 of Hawke's Bay's 50 orchards are infected with Psa.

Mr Olsen said the statistics did not show the full picture - the disease was under control in many orchards. Growers who had experienced a positive test in a small area had proactively dealt with the outbreak and were constantly re-checking.

"For all intents and purposes you could say the orchard is Psa free, but KVH has no protocol for formerly defining an orchard as Psa free after a positive test," he said.

While it appeared the disease had been eradicated from many Hawke's Bay orchards the industry as a whole had to learn to live with it, he said.

"The growers I'm in communication with are pretty optimistic for the future. It is not going to go away but we are learning to live with it, a bit like beekeepers and Varroa.

"Certainly the original gold variety, Hort 16A, got walloped by Psa and eventually you would have to think it is going to have to die out completely, but the G3 replacement is showing considerably better resilience.

"Obviously we would be happier if we didn't have Psa in the country but as an industry we are pretty much on top of the problem."

KVH statistics show 83 per cent of the nation's 2724 orchards have the disease. More than 1000 are in Te Puke, which has a 100 per cent orchard infection rate.

This year's national harvest was forecast to be higher than average, with increasing G3 percentage as grafted plants matured.