Hawke's Bay kiwifruit growers are to meet on Monday with authorities to discuss the recent outbreak of the vine-killing disease PSA in the region.
Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH) revealed on Friday that PSA had been found near a Taradale orchard for the first time and said that it could have been there for at least six months.
A control area which includes 43 kiwifruit orchards has been set up and growers are being urged to increase their monitoring and take steps to stop the disease spreading.
Growers within the controlled area are to meet with KVH officials on Monday and a plan for the region is to be developed by the two groups and others in the industry.
PSA has already been found at orchards in the Bay of Plenty, Waikato and south of Auckland, but has not yet been found in the Poverty Bay, Whanganui and Nelson regions.
The PSA disease was first discovered in 2010.
A Lincoln University study estimates PSA will cost the $1.3 billion kiwifruit export industry between $310 million and $410 million over the next five years in disease management and lost production.
NZN