KVH Chief Executive, Barry O’Neil, has recently been appointed to the HortNZ Board as an Independent Director.  Barry has extensive biosecurity governance experience, including membership of Australia’s National Biosecurity Committee and directorship of the New Zealand Bio-Protection Core and SCION.
 

KVH is looking for a person to inspect harvest bins at a Pukekohe packhouse to ensure they are free of leaf/plant material before they are delivered to Exclusion region orchards.

Work is part-time and on an on-call basis throughout April and May.

For further details phone Karyn Lowry on 027 227 1157 or email karyn.lowry@kvh.org.nz

KVH has recently received several reports of unusual symptoms on kiwifruit orchards by proactive growers. These have been followed up with site visits and diagnostic testing to determine the cause. Fortunately these investigations have not found any new pathogens or biosecurity threats.

If a new pathogen were to enter New Zealand and affect our industry, swift action would give the best chance of minimising impacts to the industry.

All growers are encouraged to report any unusual symptoms to either KVH (0800 665 825) or their postharvest technical representative.
 

This week MPI announced changes to the movement controls for fruit and vegetables in the QFF Controlled Area in Grey Lynn.

These changes will enable customers to purchase fruit and vegetables from MPI-Approved Retailers within the Controlled Area that they can take outside of the Controlled Area.

Precautions are required by both MPI-Approved Retailers and customers when purchasing and selling fresh produce to avoid potentially spreading Queensland fruit fly.

These precautions include:

• Retailers sourcing all fruit and vegetables for sale from outside the Controlled Area.
• Protecting the produce from exposure to Queensland fruit fly during transit to stores.
• Some retailers may also be required to cover fruit and vegetables in their store with a fruit fly resistant mesh so that fruit flies cannot lay eggs on the produce.
• Retailers sealing the fresh produce in a plastic bag so customers are able to safely move it out of the Controlled Area.
• Customers may not remove the fruit from the plastic bag until it is outside the Controlled Area.
• Customers to keep their receipt as proof of purchase when they move the produce out of the Controlled Area.

People will be able to identify approved retailers in the Controlled Area as they will display this MPI poster.

A list of approved retailers is also available on MPI’s website here.




 

Some members of the public have asked why we are so concerned about fruit flies when we see these all the time hanging around our compost bins.

Queensland fruit flies (QFF) are different from small dark brown drosophila flies (also called vinegar flies or ferment flies) that hang around ripe and decaying fruit.

The QFF is around 6–8mm in length and is brown marked with yellow. A vinegar fly is much smaller, around 2mm in length (smaller than a common sand fly).

Most drosophila flies are not agricultural pests. However, they can be a nuisance where fruit and vegetables are stored.

One exception is the spotted wing drosophila which is a serious biosecurity threat and on the kiwifruit industry’s most unwanted list. The spotted wing drosophila is not present in New Zealand.
 

All nurseries that sell and distribute kiwifruit plants are required to register with KVH on an annual basis.  Non-registered nurseries or nurseries that have let their registration lapse cannot dispatch kiwifruit plants. A list of KVH-registered nurseries is available on the KVH website here.

To avoid supply shortages, growers need to order plants well in advance so nurseries can anticipate industry demand. Plants ordered for dispatch after 1 October 2016 must be certified under the Kiwifruit Plant Certification Scheme (KPCS).

Growers also have an obligation when purchasing plants to ensure the nursery is registered and movement controls are complied with. If you have any concerns about the plants you are purchasing this season and/or the movement controls associated with them, please call KVH to check first – 0800 665 825.

Transport requirements
KVH Protocols state that kiwifruit plant material (budwood, pollen, rootstock etc.) and other risk items (harvest bins) must be securely covered when moving between sites/regions to reduce the risk of disease spread. Nursery plants are also required to be sprayed with copper prior to dispatch and tested for Psa-V within six weeks of movement occurring.

KVH Protocols provide protection for transit regions that have limited Psa-V infection or where Psa-V has not yet been detected.

If you are planning on moving plant material or other risk items, please check the KVH Protocols on the website. If you are unsure please give us a call – 0800 665 825.
 

KVH has been working with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to reduce the amount of wild kiwifruit establishing in the Bay of Plenty’s gullies, bush margins and production forests. 

Wild kiwifruit is an environmentally damaging vine and may harbour Psa-V or other pests, which can then spread to nearby orchards.  Reject fruit fed to livestock may be a potential seed-source of further wild vines, establishing when birds such as waxeyes feed on the softening fruit and distribute the seed.

A trial was undertaken by Kawerau-based Plateau Bark to see if compost could be made using reject fruit (and associated debris) mixed with pulp waste from the Norske Skog Tasman Ltd pulp and paper mill.  The composted material was regularly turned and monitored.  The trial was overseen by Plant and Food Research. 

Temperatures within the compost piles were logged and found to be regularly above 60 degrees Celcius. Testing confirmed the end product was Psa-V ‘not-detected’ and kiwifruit seed had been destroyed during the high-temperature composting process.

KVH is now advancing the process to name Plateau Bark as a KVH-approved compost manufacturer using reject kiwifruit.  Ongoing approval will depend on the compost product being consistently manufactured to prescribed standards, regularly monitored and free of Psa-V, other harmful pathogens and viable kiwifruit seed. 

The relevant KVH Protocols will be amended to allow KVH-approved compost manufacturers to spread compost containing reject fruit, made to prescribed standards, onto Psa-V positive orchards in Recovery Regions.

For more information on this project, contact John Mather or Karyn Lowry at KVH on 0800 665 825.