The kiwifruit vine disease outbreak has spread, prompting Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister David Carter to make an urgent visit to the Bay of Plenty today.
Adding to the industry's woes, Italian authorities have impounded a load of 850 tonnes of cont
The kiwifruit vine disease outbreak has spread, prompting Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister David Carter to make an urgent visit to the Bay of Plenty today.
Adding to the industry’s woes, Italian authorities have impounded a load of 850 tonnes of contaminated New Zealand kiwifruit, while US and Australia have halted imports of kiwifruit nursery stock.
The US has stopped importing kiwifruit plant material until it can put certain “requirements in place,” said Helen Keyes, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Meanwhile, two more kiwifruit orchards in the Bay of Plenty are confirmed or suspected to have the Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae (Psa) bacteria.
All properties grow Zespri's Hort16A gold kiwifruit cultivar, bred from the Actinidia chinensis species.
Growers have been urged to take hygiene measures to protect their vines from infection, including disinfecting visitors.
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry deputy director general Barry O'Neil says orchardists have sent in photographs of vines displaying suspected symptoms and the number of properties being investigated is now in the "dozens.”
"Signs that we're seeing on the first property are quite severe on some of the vines and indicate that the infection has been there for some time," he says.
Mr Carter will hold meetings with kiwifruit industry representatives and growers in Te Puke this morning.
Shipment impounded
Freshplaza.com reports Italian authorities have impounded a load of 850 tonnes of New Zealand kiwifruit as "not in line with the market" because of contamination.
This means the shipment cannot be sold. It had arrived in Italy, in the port of Bergeggi (Genova), aboard the Whitney Bay. The audit carried out by Agecontrol inspectors showed that some kiwifruit, imported by Zespri International Europe, had problems with a spill of diesel oil in the holds of the ship.
During the unloading, the 850 tonnes of kiwifruit affected by the problem have been placed in two separate cells for further investigation. Chemical tests confirmed the presence (albeit not significant) of substances related to oil vapour.
At the conclusion of this procedure, Agecontrol notified the "not in line with the market" of the goods because of the abnormal smell. Within the law this represents a factor limiting the marketing.
