As the depth of the Psa-V disaster facing the kiwifruit industry becomes clearer, attention is turning toward the banks.

A Gold kiwifruit orchard valued at $450,000 per canopy hectare last season is now worth about $60,000-80,000 per canopy hectare – virtually a bare land price.

A leaf from a vine infected with Psa-V.

The expectation is that the first bank to foreclose will set off an avalanche – but the banks cannot afford to behave like they did in the downturn in the early 1990s when they forced many orchardists out of the industry. They can't afford to do so now because the banks are also exposed.

They were lending orchardists 90-95 per cent because the returns were 20-25 per cent.

Kiwifruit Vine Health Incorporated, the orchardists' Psa-V manager, reports vines on more than 500 orchards in the Bay of Plenty have returned positive tests for the vine canker Psa-V.

The Gold orchards have been the most affected, but as the season continues Green orchardists are anxiously inspecting the later-setting Green vines.

Most of the affected orchards are in the Te Puke region, but orchards in Tauranga, Katikati, Whakatane, Waihi and Opotiki are also affected.

A Gold orchard in Kerikeri has also received a preliminary Psa-V positive result.

The ripples are spreading through the post-harvest sector as packhouse operators reassess requirements.

In September, Seeka Kiwifruit Industries made a voluntary redundancy offer to all its staff.

The Te Puke based packhouse operator has 16 packhouses around the country, handling 20 per cent of the national kiwifruit crop. It employs 250 full time staff.

Apata is also looking at how it adjusts its structure to meet the expected reduced demands from the kiwifruit industry.

'Like growers we are all bound up in dealing with the issue of Psa, and we are trying to get an understanding of the impact on growers crops are because that has a direct impact on our businesses,' says Apata CEO Steve Low.

Apata is processing a record avocado crop, which Steve expects they will be packing through to February.

'That's good, it keeps all our key staff together, it's good to have that trucking along,” says Steve.

'But we remain extremely concerned about the continued impact of Psa and its wider impacts on the community.

'It's not just growers, it's everyone that supports the industry, and that's all the ancillary businesses. It's pretty devastating.

'I'm just not seeing that our community leaders have really picked up on all that yet.

'To be fair as spring's happening, we are seeing the extent or some of the effects of Psa and there is going to be a material affect on the economy.”