By Emma Jolliff
Bagged and ready for destruction, some of the most diseased kiwifruit vines from around the country have been stripped from orchards and driven to a site near State Highway 56 in the Bay of Plenty.
“We're trialling both deep burial and what we call air-curtain incinerator destruction of the material,” says Barry O’Neill.
Today the Government announced a $50 million dollar plan to fight the PSA disease.
“Government has agreed to immediately make available $25 million, subject to the industry itself agreeing to contribute $25 million,” says Agriculture Minister David Carter.
The funding will cover PSA management, compensation for lost income and research.
Mr Carter says the plan involves more spraying to control the spread of the disease and very aggressive pruning.
“The aggressive pruning regime will mean individual growers will face quite substantial revenue losses for the next two or three years,” Mr Carter says.
Consultation with growers in the Bay of Plenty started today.
“We met with growers in Te Puke this morning, about 400 growers, overwhelming support, a very very strong sense of urgency, a desire to get on with it,” says Zespri’s Lain Jager
Three hundred hectares of orchards are now infested.
Most are in the Te Puke region, but there are also some in Whakatane and Edgecumbe, the Hawkes Bay and now Motueka and Golden Bay.
“It is now well accepted that eradication of PSA from New Zealand is not an option,” says Carter.
This is a short term solution, with most of the $50 million expected to be spent in the next two months. The Government says the industry will have to come up with its own pest management strategy in the long term.
3 News