Kiwifruit orchard values have doubled in the last 12 months and some growers are achieving returns for fruit of $200,000 a hectare as the industry recovers from the effects of vine disease Psa-V.

Photo: file.

The turn-around is renewing confidence for those in the industry, after its future looked bleak in 2010 when the aggressive bacterial disease Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae V was first discovered on a kiwifruit orchard in Te Puke.

Since then the disease has been found in almost all growing regions and hundreds of hectares of the formerly lucrative gold variety Hort16A have been removed, mainly from the Te Puke area.

It has been replaced by three new Zespri varieties, two gold and one green, believed to be more tolerant of the disease.

PGGWrightsion regional manager Jim Ecclestone says at the height of the crisis orchard values fell so low some growers had virtually no equity left.

'Now values are back to where they were pre-Psa and we have a bunch of buyers wanting to purchase orchards but only have three or four on our books.”

The come-back is a credit to the industry and the renewed confidence from buyers is promoted by the realisation that Psa can be managed and orchards can return to profit, says Jim.

'The orchards which have survived this far are likely to continue to be viable into the future.”

Apata Group managing director Stuart Weston says the kiwifruit industry has gone from a very dark place two seasons ago to one where confidence has returned.

'While a small number of orchards are still struggling from the impacts of Psa, many more are really profitable with some growers achieving up to $200,000 a hectare.”

Direct Management Services director Paul Jones says there is a lot of confidence in the industry now as it becomes obvious it will not only survive the disease, but also prosper.

'That's reflected in orchard values returning to pre-Psa levels and many growers are receiving a good cash flow with our highest earning G3 clients achieving orchard gate returns of more than $200,000 per hectare.”

Paul says the industry owes a debt of gratitude to the banking sector which stuck by growers, helping them stay in the industry.

'They could have behaved differently but they chose to support us. I think some local managers probably went out on a limb for their clients and as an industry we should be grateful they did.”

EastPack chief executive Tony Hawken says the kiwifruit industry has turned the corner in the last six months with a quiet confidence also influencing improving orchards' values.

'There's a good dose of optimism in the industry and there are very good reasons why that should be the case.

'New Zealand produces a good product and there's demand for our kiwifruit internationally. The industry is in a good space at present and we are feeling quite bullish about the future.”

The next big challenges the industry faces will be around the labour force and picking and packing capacity to handle the new gold G3 crop which is predicted to grow rapidly to 50 to 60million trays.