Kiwifruit producers in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand endured a weekend of overnight frost concerns as temperatures dropped, with further spates of cold weather forecast over the next few months.
Despite the threat, however, good frost protection systems meant that orchards avoided any serious damage, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
'We had helicopters on standby last night but didn't need them as the temperature dropped to only 0oC,' Brian Grafas, orchard operations manager at Seeka, told the publication. 'On Saturday night it dropped to between -1oC and -2oC which was of concern.'
While most growing areas avoided any problems, 3ha of Coromandel gold kiwifruit were hit by the frost when a pump system failed.
'This time of year is quite stressful for growers and orchard managers as they don't get much sleep on frosty nights. It's not over yet,' Mr Grafas added. 'We still have another 10 weeks to go before the frost risk has passed.'
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