Packhouses join battle to control wild kiwifruit

Kiwifruit packhouses are joining the battle to control the spread of wild kiwifruit in the Bay of Plenty.

Environment BOP has asked packhouses to give out a new fact sheet to customers picking up reject fruit for stock feed.

The pamphlet includes a warning to farmers to cover stockpiles so birds can't eat the ripening fruit and disperse seed.

Wild kiwifruit has been growing in native bush gullies and small exotic forestry blocks in the Te Puke district since the 1970s.

It is also now established around Katikati, Opotiki and parts of the Rotorua district.