Kiwifruit support package thrashed out

The first grower confirmed to have diseased kiwifruit vines has cleared 4000sq m of his Te Puke orchard in an attempt to stop Psa spreading. Photo / APN

Kiwifruit growers were tonight thrashing out details of what they want from Biosecurity Minister David Carter in a support package for orchardists battling the bacteria causing vine cankers.

Growers and other members of the Kiwifruit Industry Advisory Council have been looking at how to manage different levels of symptoms, orchard hygiene advice and continued research into the PSA virus.

But the council has also put together a grower support package which it will propose to Mr Carter tomorrow afternoon at a meeting including Zespri executives and kiwifruit growers' representatives.

So far, 16 (9 per cent) of the 170 orchards inspected have been issued with a notice restricting movement on and off the property.

Zespri said today only 13 of those 16 orchards had tested positive for PSA - equivalent to less than 1 per cent of the total industry - and three had tested negative.

Mr Carter told Parliament today that eradication - at least in the short term - was "unlikely".

Efforts were now focused on "aggressive containment" of the bacteria, restricting it to currently-infected sites.

"I am meeting with industry tomorrow in an attempt to finalise that response," he said.

Mr Carter has not committed the Government to funding an eradication programme, but has predicted that the bacterial incursion will cost taxpayers and the kiwifruit sector millions of dollars.

New Zealand has 3077 registered kiwifruit orchards, but so far PSA has only been found in a 23km-wide area south of Te Puke.

"Once we have a comprehensive action plan developed it will be important for us to consult with growers to ratify this approach - we hope to be in the position to do this by the end of this week," Zespri said today.

Growers have said while they are still getting cashflows from last season's crop, those hit by the virus could suffer serious financial problems next year.

Questions have also been raised whether crates of picked fruit from those orchards - containing potentially infective leaf litter - would be welcome at packhouses used by disease-free properties worried about the spread of bacteria.

Te Puke orchardist Russell West said yesterday that in terms of farmgate revenue next year, depending on the severity of the disease spread, "there's some nightmare scenarios sitting out there".

Some growers with infected vines were taking independent action on their own orchards to cut back those vines, with MAF disposing of the material.

Another 39 per cent of the total number of orchards tested have come back negative, with a further 53 per cent of test results pending.

Experts in the spread of disease are tracing any connections between the infected properties that could be linked to PSA, and as a precautionary measure, MAF has cautioned growers considering using artificial pollination.

Some orchardists are spraying copper solutions to suppress the bacteria on leaves and vines.

- NZPA