Kiwi fruit Disease PSA Found In Waihi Orchard

Posted by Gold FM on 16/09/2011

The news gets worse for kiwi fruit growers with the kiwifruit disease PSA found in an orchard just south of Waihi township. Growers around Waihi have been put on high alert and meetings are taking place to discuss a strategy to contain and eliminate the disease.

A 'high risk' zone has been estalished across the Waihi region which covers about 190 hectares of orchards.

The symptoms at the affected orchard show that it may be a particularly virulent type of PSA.

It's not known how the orchard became infected, but it's hoped that the discovery of PSA in the Waihi area will help to provide information on how best to battle the disease.

In the meantime the infected vines will be taken out and burned and movement of plants and plant material from the Waihi district will be restricted.

The spread of PSA to Waihi has put the kiwifruit industry on notice that the disease could have been around a lot longer than first thought and growers are advised to be very aware of the symptoms and monitor their orchards closely.