After 10 days of weather delays, two fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter have this morning begun spraying west Auckland to kill the painted apple moth pest.
The $90 million spray programme covers 8000ha and 40,000 properties. Up to 165,000 people live in the zone.
The apple moth which has the potential
to cause major damage to the country's horticulture and forestry industries.
The aircraft -- a Fokker Friendship, a small, fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter -- will divide the spray area into two large blocks, said the general manager painted apple moth operation Robert Ibister.
The Fokker Friendship was to cover the lower block of about 5000ha at the Waitakere ranges end of the zone, and the small plane will cover about 3000ha at the seaward side of the zone.
Both aircraft were due to fly in large oval circles starting from one end and moving methodically northeast. The helicopter would target small areas of heavy caterpillar infestation in two gullies in the Wairau Creek and Glendene Stream, the Waikumete Cemetery and an area in Swanson.
Mr Ibister said the Foray 48B spray had a naturally occurring soil bacterium called bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Btk) as its active ingredient. He said it had been widely used throughout the world for over 30 years as a highly effective means of killing caterpillar pests.
A previous $23.3 million programme failed to wipe out the pest, which was discovered in 2000 and which the Government said could cost the country up to $356 million over 20 years.
- NZPA
