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Bacteria threatens NZ fruit industry
Source: Agencies |
November 11, 2010, Thursday
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NEW Zealand has quarantined five kiwi fruit orchards after confirming a third case of a potentially devastating bacteria that threatens the NZ$1 billion (US$782.7 million) industry and has hurt the local currency.
The disease has led Australia and the United States to ban the import of New Zealand kiwi fruit plants because of fears that their own orchards could be put at risk.
New Zealand's Biosecurity Minister David Carter said in a statement yesterday that 20 properties were being investigated for the so-called Psa disease in the main growing region of Bay of Plenty, on the east coast of the North Island.
"While the preferred option of dealing with Psa is eradication, this decision can only be made once the spread of the disease is determined," Carter said.
"We hope to know this by Friday afternoon."
Worries about the impact of the disease on the kiwi fruit industry has weighed on the New Zealand dollar, contributing to its fall of nearly 2 percent so far this week.
The disease damages the vines, not the fruit, and poses no threat to human or animal health. It can be spread by bees, wind, rain, or on machinery, tools or people.
Kiwi fruit exports were worth around NZ$1 billion in the year to September 30, around 2.4 percent of total national export income.
The pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) bacteria was first identified in Japan in the 1980s and is also present in South Korea, where it has had little impact.
But Italy, which has a more virulent strain of the disease, has seen kiwi fruit production severely hit in some areas.
It is not known how the disease got into New Zealand and officials have said it may have been dormant for many years or may have come in with imported bees or plant stock.
The disease has led Australia and the United States to ban the import of New Zealand kiwi fruit plants because of fears that their own orchards could be put at risk.
New Zealand's Biosecurity Minister David Carter said in a statement yesterday that 20 properties were being investigated for the so-called Psa disease in the main growing region of Bay of Plenty, on the east coast of the North Island.
"While the preferred option of dealing with Psa is eradication, this decision can only be made once the spread of the disease is determined," Carter said.
"We hope to know this by Friday afternoon."
Worries about the impact of the disease on the kiwi fruit industry has weighed on the New Zealand dollar, contributing to its fall of nearly 2 percent so far this week.
The disease damages the vines, not the fruit, and poses no threat to human or animal health. It can be spread by bees, wind, rain, or on machinery, tools or people.
Kiwi fruit exports were worth around NZ$1 billion in the year to September 30, around 2.4 percent of total national export income.
The pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) bacteria was first identified in Japan in the 1980s and is also present in South Korea, where it has had little impact.
But Italy, which has a more virulent strain of the disease, has seen kiwi fruit production severely hit in some areas.
It is not known how the disease got into New Zealand and officials have said it may have been dormant for many years or may have come in with imported bees or plant stock.
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