The cost of New Zealand’s Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae (Psa) outbreak on kiwifruit vines last year is steadily nearing NZ$4m (US$3m), with over 29ha of vines removed so far.
While 31 of the 41 orchards testing positive for the Psa bacteria are the green Hayward variety, vine removal efforts have been centred on the more susceptible gold kiwifruit variety Hort16A, reported the Bay of Plenty Times.
The total cost of the management efforts went over NZ$3.5m this week. The NS$50m in funding raised by the industry and government for the project should be enough for the foreseeable future, according to John Burke, general manager of Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH), the new body charged with managing Psa.
New Zealand’s kiwifruit sector has turned its significant R&D capacity to the problem, Mr Burke said, with over 50 research projects currently underway with a further 17 completed.
“Some are aiming to establish the life-cycle of the disease and we are drawing on experience from Italy,” he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
New Zealand’s upcoming kiwifruit season is not expected to be seriously affected by the disease, and the industry is looking forward to a good crop a similar size to last year.
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