Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH), the New Zealand kiwifruit industry body established to lead the battle against Psa in the country, has said that many gold kiwifruit orchards in Te Puke are unlikely to harvest a crop next year as a result of the bacterial vine infection.
According to KVH general manager John Burke, some 85 per cent of Te Puke's gold orchards are infected with the Psa-V strain of the disease, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
'The overall situation for Te Puke gold growers is not good,' said Burke. 'Currently, 85 per cent of the area planted gold in Te Puke contains a Psa-V infection. A high percentage of these orchards will not make it through to the 2012 harvest. KVH recommends growers remove affected vines and plan ahead towards replanting as potentially the best option.'
Over 500 orchards in the Bay of Plenty region, covering both gold and green kiwifruit, have now returned positive test results for Psa-V, with Burke revealing that KVH and Zespri were working on a plan to develop more tolerant rootstocks by 2013.
He also told the publication that the spring period was always more likely to offer a clearer picture of the actual Psa situation, with a 'marked increase' in symptoms on vines in recent weeks.
'While it is too early to say what the long-term impact will be on Hayward, the outlook for Hort16A vine survival is not looking encouraging,' Burke noted. 'Right now, the best approach for growers is to have a plan, spray, and 'wait and see'. We will know more over the next two to three weeks.'
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