A key step in the fight against kiwifruit vine disease Psa is made with scientists finding that it can be killed through a high temperature treatment that does not impact pollen viability.

The research was carried out by Plant & Food Research Ltd working with industry pollen producer Kiwi Pollen NZ Ltd.

A kiwifruit vine leaf with Psa infection.

Kiwi Pollen director Jill Hamlyn says the potential breakthrough is promising ahead of artificial pollination beginning in October.

She hopes it will help end the uncertainty for orchardists needing to balance recommended Psa orchard management practices with the need to continue with artificial pollination next season.

Artificial pollination is an essential practice for many kiwifruit growers to increase the yield and quality of fruit produced on their orchards.

Kiwi Pollen approached Zespri and Plant & Food earlier this year about some promising initial research they had done on the heat treatment of pollen.

Kiwi Pollen offered to provide its findings to a wider research programme underway into cleaning pollen of Psa.

Zespri and Kiwifruit Vine Health Inc (KVH) then provided funding for the project.

Further trial research conducted by Plant & Food Research has confirmed that exposing Psa to certain temperature-time combinations is an effective way of killing Psa while maintaining the viability of the pollen.

The next stage in the pollen research programme is to develop a method of applying heat treatment on a commercial scale and to develop a test to give certainty that pollen heat-treated on a commercial scale is free of Psa.

Zespri quality and innovation general manager Dr David Tanner says the pollen research is a critical project for the industry, and is one of around 50 research projects started soon after the outbreak of Psa in November 2010.

'These projects are partnering with the best scientific minds in New Zealand and globally to research key areas of Psa including detection of the disease, the biology of the disease, on-orchard management techniques, and treatment or reduction of the disease,” says David.

Plant & Food Research's business development manager for kiwifruit, Stuart Kay, says the contribution of Kiwi Pollen to this particular project is a great example of the industry working with the scientists to come up with practical solutions that can contribute toward the management of Psa.