New Zealand fruit growers are struggling to cope with one of the wettest and windiest springs in living memory.
A week of strong winds and weeks of heavy rain have taken their toll on Bay of Plenty avocado growers, with the industry expecting this season's export crop to be down by 300,000 trays, according to the Bay of Plenty Times.
The saturated ground made trees less stable when strong winds first hit last week, uprooting trees and blowing ready-to-harvest avocados to the ground.
Meanwhile, apple growers in the Nelson area are struggling to complete their pre-blossom spray programmes to protect against blackspot, reports the Nelson Mail.
Pipfruit New Zealand chairman Ian Palmer told the paper that it was so wet many growers had found it difficult to get their tractors and sprayers into their orchards.
The wet weather has also restricted the planting of new trees and prolonged pruning, the Nelson Mail said.
But New Zealand's kiwifruit sector has so far reported no damage to kiwifruit orchards, which were just beginning to produce new shoots when the storms hit, according to the Bay of Plenty Times.
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