Thirty new cases of the kiwifruit vine disease Psa-V have been identified this week, 13 of them in the Tauranga district and five in Katikati.

The increase in incidents is not unexpected as vines begin to come out of winter dormancy, but it's still worrying for affected growers and the industry.

There was one new case reported in the Franklin region, eight in Te Puke, two in Whakatane and two in Opotiki, bringing the number of orchards with the infection to 1305. In all 6759 ha, or 49 per cent the land planted in kiwifruit now has some infected vines.

Te Puke remains the hardest hit region with 944 infected orchards, followed by Tauranga east with 129.

Whakatane has 73 infected orchards and Opotiki 74. In Tauranga west the number is 22, while for Katikati 31 orchards have now returned positive results, ahead of Waihi with 23. Seven Franklin orchards and two in the Waikato also have the disease.

Throughout the winter few new infections were reported but Kiwifruit Vine Health, the organisation established to help the industry recover from Psa, always expected infection identification to increase in spring.

Not all vines on infected orchards will necessarily have the disease and how growers deal with it depends on its severity.

However, KVH is asking all growers and anyone working on or visiting orchards to adhere to strict hygiene protocols designed to minimise the spread of the disease.