Zespri has formally announced a Psa recovery pathway for the New Zealand kiwifruit industry today (21 March), centring its plan on the Gold3 variety.
The plan aims to replace the original Zespri Gold variety, Hort16A, with Gold3, which has so far shown acceptable levels of Psa tolerance.
Growers who currently hold Hort16A production licences will have access to Gold3 licences if they choose to graft across, Zespri said in a statement, and licences for an extra 400ha of the variety will also be released.
“Zespri is being very clear to growers that this pathway is not without risk,” stated the company’s chairman John Loughlin.
“We do not have all the knowledge on either the Psa or the commercial performance of Gold3. However, based on what is known to date we are confident this pathway is realistic and gives the industry its best chance of coming out of Psa.”
Growers grafting across to Gold3 will be without income from those orchards for one year, however, and take at least three years to reach full production.
“While it is great to be talking about a starting point, we have to remember that many growers will be hurting for some time yet,” said New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers president Neil Trebilco, adding the industry had stayed intact up to this point because of the strength of its unified structure.
The scene is definitely set for many growers to take the plunge, despite the gap in income.
Roughly one third of New Zealand’s Hort16A orchards are expected to be cut out due to Psa infection by the end of this season, and around 40 per cent of the country’s kiwifruit orchards have tested positive for the disease.
“You’re looking at stumps right now,” Trebilco told local press. “You’ve got no other option.”
Gold3 has done well in international market trials over the last few years, and for growers the variety is high-yielding, stores well and is easier to manage through the supply chain than the beaked Hort16A.
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