PSA on kiwifruit vine

The authorities in Chile have called for greater vigilance amongst producers following the first confirmed case of Psa in kiwifruit groves in Chimbarongo in Chile’s VI region.

Carlos Cruzat, president of the Chilean Kiwifruit Committee, said the development was unfortunate but not unexpected given the climatic characteristics of the region, already deemed to be at high risk of the disease.

“The discovery leads us to believe that the bacteria is likely to be present in farms in the surrounding area which is likely to impact negatively on producers in the VI region,” he said.

The Committee has already activated measures to prevent the spread of the disease to neighbouring farms under its Psa control programme. Because the disease is spread by rainfall and wind, as well as through human contact, this assumes that the area within a 5km radius is at biggest risk of infection. Cruzat called on growers to redouble their efforts to control the outbreak by monitoring orchards more closely, applying chemical treatments where needed and ensuring that all tools are disinfected, amongst other measures.

So far in 2014, one case of Psa has been detected in O’Higgins, eight in Maule and eight in Bio Bio.