New Zealand kiwifruit

Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH), the New Zealand-based body set up to manage the threat of the vine-killing disease Psa-V, has revealed that a further 13 positive identifications of the disease have been made in the past week.

KVH's 7 March bulletin showed that the total number of orchards impacted has climbed to 2,088, covering some 9,680ha, with70 per cent of New Zealand's kiwifruit hectares on an orchard identified with Psa-V.

Of the 13 orchards new Psa-V identifications in the report, seven orchards are located in Tauranga West, three are in Te Puke, two are in Tauranga East and one is in Katikati.