Kiwifruit grower Kerry Farrand had to dump about 30,000 trays of his prized gold kiwifruit after they were sabotaged. Photo / Debbie Beaddle
Kiwifruit grower Kerry Farrand had to dump about 30,000 trays of his prized gold kiwifruit after they were sabotaged. Photo / Debbie Beaddle
A month after a Northland kiwifruit grower posted a $50,000 reward for evidence that led to a conviction for the sabotage of his prized fruit, vital information about the presence of two men in his orchard has been passed on to police.
Kerry Farrand, owner of Farrand Orchards in Kerikeri,had to dump nearly 30,000 trays of gold kiwifruit after powerful insecticide Calypso was sprayed in two orchards over 2.26ha in June.
With Zespri - the world's largest marketer of kiwifruit - paying him $8 per tray, Mr Farrand said he had lost about $220,000 in income. The spray meant he was unable to sell the kiwifruit on the world market as residue levels of the spray exceeded approved levels.
Mr Farrand had no doubts the kiwifruit were contaminated by someone who knew the industry well and was qualified to spray Calypso. He said after reading about the sabotage in the Northern Advocate, a neighbour and another person rang and gave information that could identify the culprits.
Two men carrying what appeared to be new knapsacks were seen in different areas of his orchard on separate days, he said. On the first occasion a man and his daughter driving past saw two men at the entrance to his orchard and a grey station wagon parked nearby.
"That sighting was made between 8-8.30am either at the end of March or the beginning of April which makes sense because the first residue test on the fruits on March 15 came negative."
The second sighting of the men was made by a neighbour who saw them in the orchard. On both occasions the witnesses thought both men were working for him.
"No commercial grower would use a knapsack because of the large area the fruit is grown in. We use a tractor to spray them. We now know the damage done by these two gentlemen and it's now a matter of finding them which is still a real challenge." Mr Farrand has passed the information on to the police.
