Editorial: Orchard spraying critical

Psa has hammered the kiwifruit industry and the repercussions have been felt across the wider Bay economy.

The ongoing impact of Psa cannot be overstated. It has ravaged the vines of growers and left many facing uncertain futures.

Hundreds have had to pull out and destroy their vines and the kiwifruit industry has been grappling with how best to deal with the dreaded disease.

A massive amount of work has been done to find ways to combat Psa since it first began to spread, so it is disturbing to learn abandoned orchards in the region are threatening to reignite the epidemic. Kiwifruit Vine Health has launched a campaign to detect all abandoned orchards in the region.

The news comes as growers face losing an estimated $200 million this year because of Psa.

Peter Ombler, New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers past president and KVH chairman, likened the on-going battle with Psa to controlling a bushfire.

In terms of Psa recovery, unmanaged and abandoned orchards were one of the biggest risks the industry faces.

Lack of spray regimes meant unmanaged orchards represented a significant threat to neighbouring properties. KVH hopes to bring the orchards back into production to reduce the risk. Kiwifruit growers will hope this happens as quickly as possible to ensure another outbreak of Psa does not occur.

It is critical to the industry - and to the region's economy - that we eventually get past this terrible disease.