The economy of the Bay of Plenty region, and indeed throughout New Zealand, could be seriously undermined if the bacteria, which was discovered in the Te Puke area, becomes widespread.
New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry, reported by Television New Zealand to have earned $1.4 billion in the year to March, could suffer the same fate as the kiwifruit industry in Italy.
The strain of bacteria that has infected cultivars has not yet been identified. However, there is concern that it could be the virulent variety that attacked Italian kiwifruit cultivars and which was particularly disastrous for the popular golden kiwifruit variety.
According to the New Zealand Herald, marketer Zespris Hort16A golden kiwifruit cultivar in Italy was the worst affected.
Golden kiwifruit exports are more lucrative than other varieties in New Zealand.
Biosecurity Minister, Chris Carter, told Television New Zealand (TVNZ) that, so far, no country has refused exports of kiwifruit and that it was fortunate that the disease had been detected at the end of the kiwifruit season.
He told TVNZ that although the disease had only been found in three orchards, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) would be carrying out surveillance in kiwifruit orchards throughout the country spanning from Kerikeri in the north to Nelson in the South Island.
Both the United States and Australia were refusing to accept shipments of root stock said Mr Carter but he advised kiwifruit growers against making ‘hasty’ decisions before more information was available.
Damien O’Connor, the opposition Labour Party’s biosecurity spokesman, pointed out the importance of protecting New Zealand’s primary industries.
“The 2009 National Government budget cut the number of frontline biosecurity staff by 54. The Government now needs to urgently reassess its budget cuts in these areas and provide MAF with the staff and resources to protect this country,” he stated on the Labour Party’s website.
