By ANNE BESTON
Unfavourable weather looks almost certain to delay the second round of aerial spraying against a moth pest in West Auckland.
Mary-Ann Crawford, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's $11 million painted apple moth campaign, said the forecast "doesn't look good".
Showers and high winds are expected tomorrow,
when aerial spraying is due to start again.
A decision on whether the helicopter would lift off would be made about 4 am, she said.
If spraying is postponed, it will be rescheduled for the next day, and so on until the weather is favourable.
MAF completed one aerial spray of the target zone last month and needs to do two more before the effectiveness of the operation can be assessed.
The biological insecticide being used against the moth, Foray 48B or Btk, is only effective if five hours of fine weather follow a spray.
The helicopter cannot operate in winds more than 12 km/h.
The BK117 helicopter takes about eight hours to cover the 560ha target zone, centred around Waikumete Cemetery, Traherne Island in the upper Waitemata Harbour and the Whau River and its tributaries.
nzherald.co.nz/environment
