Kiwifruit Vine Health Inc is lifting the provisional Psa-V warning it placed on five orchards outside the priority zone after tests returned with negative results for the disease.

These properties are in the Paengaroa, Pongakawa South, Gisborne and Nuhaka areas.

Kiwifruit Vine Health Inc general manager John Burke.

KVH general manager John Burke says despite the removal from the zone, the orchards remain under high surveillance by KVH.

'They initially tested positive for the Italian strain late last month using the VLS speed test, however, further testing has failed to detect further evidence of the disease,” says John.

'The difference in these results can be explained by a number of factors including: sampling, season, environmental conditions and treatments.”

John says the VLS speed test offers a rapid turn-around time in providing results, usually around one day which is much faster than the original haplotype test, which takes around two weeks.

'This is because the original test needs to grow the bacteria in the laboratory.

'Unlike the original test, the VSL test doesn't involve genetic sequencing, which is what provides us with greater confidence of Psa-V detection.”

John says they will continue to use the faster method of testing, but if they obtain a Psa-V result outside of the current priority zone, they'll use the original testing method to confirm the result.