Growers are encouraged to attend the spring Psa industry meeting to keep up to date with the latest R&D, Psa orchard management and recommendations for managing product resistance.

• When:     Wednesday 2 September, 3-5pm
• Where:    Orchard Church, 20 Macloughlin Drive, Te Puke
• RSVP:    info@kvh.org.nz 

Presenters are Barry O’Neil (KVH), Joel Vanneste (Plant & Food Research), Elaine Gould and Greg Clark (Zespri).

Key topics covered:

• Regional Psa update
• Update on streptomycin resistance
• Spring spray programme
• Use conditions for KeyStrepto™ and Kasumin®
• Best practice to reduce resistance/tolerance developing
• Innovation update
• Spring girdling – males/females and best timing
• Product testing update
• Q&A session

Tea and coffee available from 2.30pm and following the meeting

To ensure KVH statistics are accurate, growers and Psa managers of ‘not detected’ orchards in recovery regions are asked to verify their orchard Psa-V status and update KVH if this has changed.

Recovery region and no. of not detected orchards

• Katikati - 63
• Tauranga - 47
• Waikato - 26
• Opotiki - 18
• Coromandel - 15
• Franklin - 15

The Psa-V Seasonal Management Guide for 2015-16 is being finalised and will be available on the KVH website next week. Growers will also receive the Wall Planner version through the post.

The Psa-V Seasonal Management Guide outlines best practice for managing Psa-V and updated product rates and use conditions for the coming season.

KVH has also developed a document: Best Practice Advice—Management to limit resistance to Psa-V control products. This Guide will be enclosed in the grower mail-out and will also be available on the KVH website from next week.

 

MPI has firmed up details about how they will spend new biosecurity funding under Budget 2015 and there will be a raft of new measures to make it harder for air passengers to bring risk goods into New Zealand. This includes trials to test 100% x-raying of arriving baggage, more dogs and mobile x-ray machines.

The trial of 100% x-raying will test its effectiveness in conjunction with the improved border measures, and help MPI understand the logistical challenges involved. Recent statistics on the warnings and fines issued to passengers highlighted the enduring biosecurity threat posed at the border by passengers.

Read more about MPI’s border updates here.

Following a recent review, the VLS Psa/microbiology laboratory owned by Seeka Kiwifruit Industries permanently closed on Monday 17 August.

VLS has provided a significant service to the industry during challenging times and has worked closely with KVH over the last four and a half years.

KVH would like to thank VLS, in particular Shalinee Dowlut and Murray Judd, for their testing service and contribution to the R&D programme. 

A Psa testing service is still available from Hill Laboratories.

Congratulations to Craig Ward from Apata Group Ltd for winning the NZ Young Fruit Grower of the Year competition at the recent national competition in Christchurch. Craig also came runner-up for the overall NZ Young Grower competition.

Craig represented the Bay of Plenty in the national comp and was up against fruit growers from Otago, Nelson, Hawkes Bay and Gisborne.

 

KVH has just completed a monitoring round of Gold3 and Hayward vines across the Bay of Plenty, including orchards from Maketu, Edgecumbe, Waihi and Opotiki.

Cane dieback and fresh exudate (often from multiple points) were obvious on many male vines and some female vines. Reports of similar symptoms have been received from Waikato and Katikati orchards.

• Click here to view symptoms found across the region.

With spring around the corner, growers are advised to carefully monitor areas of their orchards where they have had symptoms in the past.
Information on Psa-V management will be covered in the upcoming spring Psa industry meeting on Wednesday 2 September.