Myrtle rust crisis continues in the north

The myrtle rust crisis in Taranaki continued to escalate last week, with the Ministry for Primary Industries and Department of Conservation imposing legal restrictions on the movement of plants and green waste out of the affected area.

The new rules ban the movement of plants and trees belonging to the myrtle family, garden waste, feijoas, guavas and prunings out of a 10km-radius controlled area around the infected properties.

MPI incident controller David Yard said the Far North infection, at Kerikeri and Taheke, had been managed, with no new cases reported since May 24.

An infection in Te Kuiti was also under control, while MPI was still investigating the scale of the problem at Te Puke.