Kiwifruit orchards in Te Puke are in lockdown as Zespri and industry leaders gather in emergency talks to discuss a suspected disease outbreak.

SunLive understands an emergency meeting was held on Monday morning between Zespri staff and members of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

MAF has confirmed it is investigating a possible infection on a North Island kiwifruit orchard.

A preliminary test has suggested that a strain of the bacterial kiwifruit vine disease, pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae, may be present on some vines on the orchard.

MAF is working closely with Zespri, Plant & Food Research and New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated to confirm the vine infection.

Results are due by Wednesday.

Diseases such as these can be destructive for growers, with one particular disease, bacterial canker or batteriosi, wiping out huge volumes of kiwifruit crops in Italy and Chile earlier this year.

MAF says precautions have been taken to mitigate any risk of spread, including issuing a Restricted Place Notice on the orchard.

All parties are taking the suspected threat seriously and are acting quickly to minimise the risk.

If the disease is confirmed, MAF will work with Zespri and NZKGI to implement an agreed action plan.

In the meantime Zespri is working with the industry to advise of the current situation,

understand how widespread the issue may be, and encourage best practice orchard hygiene.

'There are certain diseases that affect different kiwi and some are specific to different countries so we are trying to ascertain whether it is something that is related to those or not so until we get those results back we don't know what we're dealing with,” says Zespri spokesperson Andrea Brady.

'It's been identified as a potential infection. We're not sure what type of infection it is and we are still trying to confirm that.

'We are still trying to get as much information as possible.”

Science Note

Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae (Psa or batteriosi) is a disease that affects kiwifruit (Actinidia).

It was first identified on green kiwifruit vines (Hayward) in Japan about 25 years ago.

Psa has never been confirmed as being present in New Zealand.

Psa was first identified on green kiwifruit vines in Italy in 1992 and has caused substantial damage to both green and yellow-fleshed kiwifruit in recent years.

Psa is also present in Japan and Korea where the disease is controlled by implementing appropriate agriculture practices.