The kiwifruit industry is establishing a new business to co ordinate the ongoing management of the Psa infection in kiwifruit orchards.

The vine canker Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae, was first discovered in Te Puke orchards three weeks ago, and has since been confirmed in 80 kiwifruit orchards. Most of them are within 23km of Te Puke, but Psa infected vines have also been found in orchards in Hawke's Bay, Tauranga, Whakatane/Edgecumbe, Waikato, Golden Bay and Motueka.

The special-purpose Psa managment organisation will be in place by Monday next week. Its board will include representatives from ZESPRI, post-harvest suppliers, New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated (NZKGI) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF).

Work is underway to confirm the name, structure, rules and membership of the new organisation.

'Affected growers are understandably seeking details regarding their eligibility for financial assistance, so we anticipate that one of the new organisation's first priorities will be to confirm the details of the financial assistance package, including eligibility requirements and the application process,” says Zespri Director Corporate and Grower Services, Carol Ward.

Zespri has a team of technical, grower relations, management and communications staff to manage the transition to the new organisation, and it will continue to be heavily involved and supportive of the Psa industry management strategy, says Carol.

More than 600 orchards have been assessed and 459 test results have been received to date. About 80 per cent of the tests are negative. Zespri anticipates the affected orchard area to be less than one percent of the total industry orchard area.

'We're working very closely with those affected growers to ensure they have access to the right people and information to support their orchard management decisions,” says Carol. 'In addition, there is a large amount of research work underway to attempt to answer some of the questions we still have on Psa.”

About 95 percent of the infected orchards are only showing the initial symptom of leaf spotting, and have not progressed to the more severe symptoms indicating vine health is impacted. The infected orchards are being monitored closely.

'While we've got some urgent challenges ahead as the industry adapts to cope with Psa in the future, we're not anticipating any significant impact on production and sales next year.”