The chances of eradicating kiwifruit canker from New Zealand have grown “extremely slim” with the positive detection of the disease in the South Island yesterday, and authorities are now looking to pursue an “urgent aggressive containment strategy”, according to Biosecurity and Agriculture Minister David Carter.
Kiwifruit marketer Zespri announced yesterday the detection of the Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae (Psa) bacteria in one orchard in Motueka and one in Golden Bay, both near Nelson on New Zealand’s South Island.
Detections had also been made on four orchards in Napier/Hastings, Edgecumbe and Whakatane in the North Island, all outside the original detection area in Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty region.
Those detections plus several more in Te Puke announced this morning bring the total number of orchards with known infections to 37. Eight of those are of the green Hayward variety, while the remainder are the Hort16A Zespri Gold variety.
The new evidence that the disease has spread beyond Te Puke means there is little possibility Psa will be able to be completely eradicated from the country’s NZ$1.4bn kiwifruit industry.
“MAF `the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry` and industry is accepting that eradication is looking very, very difficult,” Mr Carter told local media.
“Once the initial stages of response are complete and infection rates minimised, the industry will put a long-term pest management strategy in place, which will be funded by industry.”
Funding the response
New Zealand’s government announced today a planned NZ$50m in funding for the Psa industry response plan. Half of that money will be provided by the government, and half is set to be provided by the kiwifruit industry.
“Today’s announcement is a major funding commitment and a decision not taken lightly. This is an immediate and aggressive response,” Mr Carter said. “It recognises the compelling case put forward by the kiwifruit industry to ensure its future viability.”
The industry’s half of that funding is yet to be confirmed, with meetings going on today between the kiwifruit Industry Advisory Council and growers across the country on the plan. A decision on that is expected by tomorrow night.
The funding will provide financial assistance to growers to control the disease on infected orchards, but the total cost to the industry from the kiwifruit canker outbreak is expected to rise as high as NZ$75m, reported Business Day.
“It’s an estimate but even though we will be compensating growers upfront for the potential loss of grower returns over the next couple of years we anticipate there will be a substantial loss that’s not covered by the industry or government contributions and we estimate that substantial loss to be around $25 million,” said Mr Carter.
Grower reaction
Despite the detection of Psa in new regions outside Te Puke, growers were remaining bullish about the industry’s prospects.
In Nelson on the South Island, where kiwifruit canker was confirmed yesterday, regional industry body Mainland Kiwi Growers chairman Rod Fry said the disease did not spell the end of the industry, reported the Nelson Mail.
“Definitely not. We will overcome it,” he stated.
Growers across the country have been voluntarily limiting movement between orchards and the use of artificial pollination to stem the spread of the disease, as well as sending in reports to Zespri of possible symptoms.
Zespri’s global supply manager Simon Limmer told a grower meeting earlier this week growers needed to be proactive, pragmatic and vigilant.
“You have to ask yourself what is best for my orchard and what would I want my neighbour to do,” he said.
