NZ launches kiwifruit biosecurity scheme to stop Psa spread - FreshFruitPortal.com

NZ launches kiwifruit biosecurity scheme to stop Psa spread

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NZ launches kiwifruit biosecurity scheme to stop Psa spread

A new biosecurity scheme has been introduced by New Zealand's Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH) organization for the country's nurseries, in a bid to stop the spread of the bacterial disease Psa.kiwis_89451229

Kiwifruit nurseries can apply to be accredited by the 'Core Standard' scheme that affords growers who buy their plants a high level of confidence they don't contain Psa or other significant threats.

KVH chief executive Barry O'Neil told www.freshfruitportal.com each nursery would have to consider how they will meet the requirements of the scheme.

"They will have to put in a proposal as to how they will achieve the standard," O'Neil said.

"The nurseries will be audited, and then prior to sales occurring before winter the nurseries will be inspected and tested to ensure they comply with the biosecurity requirements.

"We haven't been specific about how nurseries should achieve this standard. We're trying to ensure that nurseries can determine their own specific situation, and we're wanting to see innovative approaches - so we're not wanting to stop that happening."

One potential measure nurseries could take would be growing the plants under shelter to protect them from the wind and rain that spread the disease.

O'Neil said although Psa was a key focus of the scheme, it was intended to protect against all current diseases and any ones that could come along in the future.

"What we’re trying to ensure is if some other biosecurity risk arrives in New Zealand in the future that we don't end up spreading it around the country through the movements of plants," he said.

"We're in the process of clarifying the tests that we're concerned with and the type of inspections that would be required to give us confidence that the plants involved don't have anything else."

O'Neil said he recognized there were significantly different types of nurseries in New Zealand, ranging from 'backyard' operations to high-spec multimillion-dollar productions, and each one was going to have to meet the requirements in their own way to be accredited by the scheme.

The Core Standard was launched at the end of May and there is a transitional period until October 2016 for nurseries to comply. O'Neil said so far five nurseries had formally applied to be accredited, and a further 25 had indicated they were likely to join.

If they do not comply with the requirements by the end of the transitional period, the nurseries will be 'restricted in what they are able to do' with their plants.

"The reality is that our industry has been hit very hard with Psa and as such the growers as very focused are ensuring that, for one, Psa impacts are minimized, and secondly, that as an industry we're not as exposed as what we were when Psa came along," O'Neil said.

"Ultimately that will stand the industry in a good place for its future productive and competitiveness."

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc (NZKGI) president Neil Trebilco said many producers have had issues in the past sourcing plants they knew were free of Psa.

"I think it [the scheme] does two things. It ensures that there are healthy plants available for growers, and it also emphasizes to other growers the need to make sure the plants they use on the orchards are Psa-free, because I suppose with the new gold variety [Zespri G3] they begin to think that Psa is no longer a problem," he said.

He added that while it may be harder for certain nurseries to meet the accreditation requirements, the Core Standard was a necessary step to protect the industry.

"It's possible that some nurseries may struggle to enter the scheme but I think that's true of any new scheme; initially they’re going to have to work out how they're going to do that," Trebilco said.

"Of course there's going to be an initial time where some nurseries will struggle to understand the requirements but others will see it as a commercial opportunity."

According to O'Neil the Psa disease is found in about 80% of New Zealand's kiwifruit growing hectares, albeit often in a mild form, and currently only two regions remain in the country that are completely free of the disease.

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