The vine disease Psa-V now infects 50 per cent of the land on which New Zealand's kiwifruit is grown - with 29 new cases confirmed this week.

A total of 1334 orchards covering a total 6900 hectares now have the disease, although not all vines on these orchards are infected.

The majority of infected orchards are in the Te Puke region with 948 infected and 137 of them are in Tauranga east. Other infected areas are in Tauranga west, Opotiki, Whakatane, Katikati, Waihi, and more recently Te Awamutu and Coromandel.

Psa is becoming more evident at this time of year as kiwifruit vines emerge from winter dormancy so the increase in infections was expected by the industry.

Kiwifruit Vine Health has established ‘controlled areas' around the most recently infected orchards in Te Awamutu and Coromandel and is closely inspecting other orchards in the areas for signs of the disease.

Psa-V is an aggressive bacteria that can kill the gold fruiting vines Hort16A and infect green Hayward vines along with the new gold varieties G9, G3 and the green G14.

While Hayward and the new varieties are thought to be more tolerant of the disease, there is concern that a number of Hayward male vines are infected. The industry relies on pollen from male vines to pollinate female flowers to produce fruit so any reduction in male vines could have serious consequences.

The disease was first discovered in New Zealand on November 5, 2010 and has spread rapidly through Te Puke orchards, and more recently, those further afield.

Most of Te Puke's Hort16A gold vines have now been removed and growers have spent this winter grafting to new varieties, mainly G9, marketed as SunGold.

In total 2200ha of kiwifruit throughout the country have been converted to new varieties this year in the hope they will be more tolerant to the disease.

Zespri, which released the new varieties and Plant & Food which bred them, have both consistently said the vines are not immune to Psa-V and will need careful management to survive.

The disease has put growers and those who rely on the industry for their income under considerable stress and a series of Psa-V Men's Discussion groups are being held this month and next, organised by New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc with the support of the Turning Point Recovery Services, the Bay of Plenty Rural Support Charitable Trust, the Fruitgrowers Charitable Trust and Kiwifruit Vine Health.

Run by Simon Lowe, a registered social worker and trained counsellor with nearly 30 years' experience, the discussion groups are aimed to help men recognise and cope with the anxiety and depression which can be associated with facing the impacts of the disease on their orchard or business.

To find out more about the courses contact KVH on 0800 665 825 or NZKGI on 0800 232 505. In an emergency contact the Police on 111.