Following the discovery of Psa-V in New Zealand in 2010, the Import Health Standard (IHS) for pollen was immediately amended by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to prohibit the import of kiwifruit pollen. To date, the importation of pollen into New Zealand remains prohibited as the potential risk of introducing further variants of Psa-V and other pathogens is unknown.
After KVH raised concerns about the possibility of Psa-V impacting male kiwifruit vines and creating a pollen shortage, MPI was asked if there was a safe way to import pollen.
MPI sought input from a Technical Working Group made up of experts from the kiwifruit (incl. KVH, Zespri and other independents), bee and pollen industries. The aim of this Working Group and subsequent MPI analysis was to determine the risk posed by imported pollen; and the potential to import it, preferably in emergency situations only (e.g. if there were to be a significant shortage of pollen in New Zealand).
MPI have drafted an assessment of the potential for Psa to be associated with imported pollen and the potential consequences if Psa (Psa-V or other variants) was to enter and establish in New Zealand. Other pathogens which may also be associated with imported pollen, and which may impact on the kiwifruit or bee industries have been identified by MPI, but have not yet been assessed.
Following a meeting of the Working Group in mid-July, MPI is currently concluding its assessment of Psa and KVH expects an update on the assessment from MPI in the next couple of weeks. KVH believes it is very unlikely this process will result in the imported pollen ban being lifted as other pathogens associated with pollen still require careful assessment.
While New Zealand does not currently have a pollen shortage, a bad Psa year could possibly impact future pollen supply.
Therefore its essential growers plan ahead for future pollination requirements.
In the past 15 years, several dozen brown marmorated stink bugs have been intercepted at the New Zealand border, usually hailing from the United States, although the pest is native to China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan rather than the Americas.
Click here to read the full article on NZ Farmer.
A reminder to growers KVH is seeking any feedback on the Draft 2014 Operational Plan (see last week’s KVH Bulletin 25 July). Please send any feedback to KVH by 5pm on Friday 15 August 2014. You can email your feedback to info@kvh.org.nz or post to PO Box 4246, Mount Maunganui 3149.
Certified kiwifruit plants under the ‘Core Standard’ of the Kiwifruit Plant Certification Scheme (KPCS) are now available for growers to order.
The first two nurseries selling KPCS certified plants are now listed on the KVH website. Two more nurseries also being audited under the Core Standard are awaiting testing results and are expected to be included on this list shortly.
A list of kiwifruit nurseries including those who are now part of the KPCS, is available on the KVH website here. Purchasing certified plants gives growers assurance they are investing in the best possible start for their new vines. Growers are reminded to order plants well in advance to ensure that nurseries can meet industry demands.
Last week KVH held an audit debrief with packhouses; and as a result some changes have been made to KVH Protocol—Fruit Bins.
The main change allows postharvest operators in Recovery regions to have their cleaned and sanitised bins (destined for Whangarei, Kerikeri and NW Auckland) inspected by KVH now—before being placed in sealed coolstores for next harvest. This will avoid double-handling and save packhouses time and expense.
A KVH inspection sticker will be attached to checked bins so growers can identify them on arrival to the orchard next harvest. A percentage of these bins will again be inspected by KVH before being dispatched to orchards next season.
Regular monitoring is an important part of Psa -V prevention and management plans, particularly following wet, windy and frosty weather.
Growers on ‘Not Detected’ orchards, especially those in Exclusion regions, should be regularly monitoring their vines over winter and spring for signs of Psa-V infection. Those on Psa-V positive orchards should be monitoring to identify any canes and/or vines showing signs of infection which need to be removed to prevent spread of infection.
As part of KVH requirements under the NPMP we need to collect data and report on Psa-V progression to ensure the objectives of the plan are being meet. To meet these objectives we require growers to report their monitoring results.
August mandatory monitoring results from the following orchards must be submitted to KVH by 10 September 2014:
Note—Psa-V positive orchards in Recovery regions are encouraged to send in their results but this is not mandatory.
An updated online mandatory monitoring form will be available on the KVH website next week.
Following a recent de-brief, it was revealed KVH audited 100 percent of bins (14,863 bins) in the 2014 harvest season that were supplied to Whangarei, North-West Auckland and Kerikeri from Recovery region packhouses. More than 180 of these bins contained kiwifruit plant material and were returned to the packhouse for cleaning and sanitising. No bins containing plant material were sent to any orchards.
Before sending bins to other containment regions (Wanganui, Coromandel, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay) packhouses were asked to advise KVH, and a 10-20 percent sample of these bins were inspected by KVH auditors along with the packhouse sanitising and inspection systems.
KVH received no complaints from any growers about the cleanliness of the harvest bins delivered to their orchards.
Crop Safety of Late Leaf Fall Copper Applications on Gold3—by HortEvaluation
A study was undertaken to determine whether copper applied with a superspreader or a penetrant adjuvant at late leaf fall causes phytotoxicity to buds. A second objective of this project was to evaluate efficacy for Psa disease control.
Click here for the final report (then select the project link at the top of the list).
KVH prepares an Operational Plan for the National Psa-V Pest Management Plan (NPMP) on an annual basis. This sets out how the NPMP will be implemented over the year ahead. It includes the KVH Board’s NPMP strategy, policies that guide how KVH will make decisions, the approach KVH will apply to achieve the NPMP objectives and budget and performance measures against which outcomes can be judged.
KVH must submit the Operational Plan to the Minister for Primary Industries, who checks it for consistency with the NPMP and is able to disallow all or parts of it should there be inconsistencies.
While not a statutory requirement, KVH is seeking any feedback on the Draft 2014 Operational Plan over the next three weeks. Please send any feedback to KVH by 5pm on Friday 15 August 2014. You can email your feedback to info@kvh.org.nz or post to PO Box 4246, Mount Maunganui 3149.
Click here for the Draft 2014 Operational Plan.
A key message KVH is picking up during nursery visits relating to the Kiwifruit Plant Certification Scheme (KPCS) is that growers are not providing nurseries with orders far enough in advance.
Without a reliable estimate on anticipated demand for the next season, nurseries take a conservative approach to avoid getting left with unsold stock.
Growers should order plants in as far advance as possible, preferably one year in advance to avoid any shortage in supply.
Additionally, growers should only be purchasing plants that have KVH certification accreditation or are registered with KVH. A list of nurseries and their status is available on the KVH website.
Crop Safety of Late Leaf Fall Copper Applications on Gold3—by HortEvaluation
A study was undertaken to determine whether copper applied with a superspreader or a penetrant adjuvant at late leaf fall causes phytotoxicity to buds. A second objective of this project was to evaluate efficacy for Psa disease control.
Click here for the final report.
Rapid commercialisation of an integrated, biologically based management package for Psa-V
A follow up project aimed at validating the field efficacy of Trichoderma and Yeast Mix and determining the compatibility of the two yeast strains with a copper-based product. Also, to identify a suitable manufacturer of Trichoderma and Yeast Mix and a distribution partner in New Zealand in order to facilitate a ‘fast tracking’ process that would move both prototype BCAs towards commercialisation as quickly as possible, on the condition that significant disease reductions were achieved in field studies.
Click here for the report
