At least three kiwifruit orchards in the Te Puke area could be completely stripped of vines as the Psa containment strategy intensifies.

Kiwifruit Vine Health Incorporated general manager John Burke says one orchard was stripped of all of its plant material and at least two other orchards could follow.

Men working at the Psa burn off last year. It now seems that more plant matter needs to be destroyed to contain the Psa disease.

KVHI, which manages the Psa containment strategy, has identified two different strains of the bacteria infecting kiwifruit orchards.

One is an Italian strain and the other is an Asian strain.

There are currently 126 orchards across New Zealand testing positive for Psa.

He says the Italian strain appears to be more virulent than the Asian strain.

The Italian strain appears to be restricted to a zone near Te Puke, says John.

He says the containment process, which includes the cut back of plant material, will be intensified in the orchards being affected by the Italian strain of Psa.

'We didn't remove all the infection in those orchards, so we came back, monitored them and realised we had not taken enough out,” says John.