Seen something unusual? MAKE A REPORT
Seen something unusual? MAKE A REPORT
There are eight organisms identified as the biggest biosecurity threat to New Zealand's kiwifruit industry.
04/06/2026
We look forward to seeing you at Mystery Creek next week. We’ll be in the Zespri stand at Site F49 (our usual spot) connecting with growers and taking part in midday presentations each day. Gates are open - and we’re on-site - daily from Wednesday to Friday, 8.00am to 5.00pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Fieldays website.
Read more04/06/2026
As winter falls, the figures are in for the 2025-26 summer season (December to February), revealing another busy summer for biosecurity officers patrolling New Zealand’s international airports. Passenger volumes exceeded last summer’s levels, reaching higher than pre-pandemic levels for some airports. Despite this increase, biosecurity processing ran smoothly with improvements such as the continued use of express risk assessment lanes in Auckland, additional officers, and expanded detector dog teams, ensuring a positive arrival experience for travellers while continuing to protect New Zealand’s borders. Summer number for 2025-26: Air passenger arrivals: 2.05mAirport with highest number of arrivals: Auckland with 1.47m Passengers with seized goods (declared): 15.6k Passengers with seized goods (undeclared): 3.4k Passengers fined: 2767 Passengers warned 296Busiest day nationwide: 21 December with 27,849 arrivals
Read more04/06/2026
Biosecurity has again been ranked the number one priority for agribusiness leaders, holding its top spot for the 16th consecutive year – and achieving its highest score since 2018. The 2026 Agribusiness Agenda goes further than previous years, positioning biosecurity as a “foundational pillar of sector resilience”. Recent responses to incursions such as avian influenza and the Yellow-legged hornet show what can be achieved through strong collaboration between industry and government. However, the report warns against overconfidence. Biosecurity risks are increasing and changing, driven by factors like climate change and global connectivity. At the same time, many export sectors rely on monocultures - increasing the potential impact of a single incursion. A key message this year is the need to move from relying on past responses to actively preparing for future threats, including targeting effort based on real risk (not a one-size-fits-all approach); using data and analytics to guide decisions; and ensuring systems evolve with changing threats. For the kiwifruit industry, the report themes are a real reminder that biosecurity is central to long-term resilience, requiring effort and commitment from all. KVH’s work, from preparedness and surveillance to practical grower guidance, directly supports the direction set out in this year’s Agenda. View the biosecurity page from the report here, or see the full report on the KPMG website here.
Read more04/06/2026
Each year in mid-May, the International Day of Plant Health, established by the United Nations, highlights the vital role plants play in our lives and why protecting them matters. Plants provide 80% of the food we eat and underpin global trade and ecosystems, yet up to 40% of crops are lost to pests and diseases each year. That’s where biosecurity comes in. Biosecurity systems help prevent harmful pests and diseases entering and spreading, protecting growers, trade, and the environment. For the New Zealand kiwifruit industry, this is exactly the focus of KVH’s work - from offshore risk monitoring and pathway analysis to post-border surveillance and grower readiness. Every trap deployed, report made, and on-orchard action taken contributes to safeguarding production and market access. International Day of Plant Health is a reminder that everyone plays a role, whether it’s checking goods, sourcing plants responsibly, or reporting anything unusual early. Here’s a short video from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations explaining their work.
Read more04/06/2026
Nominations for KVH Director close Friday 3 July: The KVH Board is calling for nominations for a grower director for a term of three years. Biosecurity Symposium Wednesday 5 August: Hear directly from experts and those involved in recent incursions in both Australia and New Zealand. KVH AGM Thursday 20 August: KVH’s annual meeting will take place at 9am, at Mercury Baypark.
Read more22/05/2026
Earlier this month, KVH attended a workshop hosted by researchers from the Bioeconomy Science Institute (BSI) to hear findings from the first year of a Better Border Biosecurity (B3) social science research project focused on biosecurity engagement. The three-year project is exploring how industries and communities understand, engage with, and support biosecurity practices. Its aim is to help strengthen social licence and encourage practical biosecurity action across New Zealand’s primary sectors and communities. Three case studies have been completed during the project’s first year, focusing on on-orchard biosecurity practices within the kiwifruit industry, Lepidoptera readiness planning, and Māori biosecurity engagement within pollination services. The workshop shared valuable insights into how biosecurity is viewed and applied across different settings, and highlighted the importance of practical, people-focused approaches to improving engagement. The next phase of the project will involve researchers and biosecurity partners working together to co-design practical tools and approaches to strengthen biosecurity participation. Over the coming months, findings from the case studies will be shared with interview participants and then more widely released. KVH thanks everyone who contributed their time, experience and insights to the project. The open and constructive discussions provided valuable perspectives that will help shape future biosecurity engagement initiatives across the sector. Image: KVH and others involved in biosecurity at a recent workshop about latest engagement research.
Read more18/05/2026
Good news for the kiwifruit industry – the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) investigation in Orākei, Auckland has concluded with no further detections. The eighth and final scheduled trap check was completed at the end of April, confirming that no additional BMSB were present after the single find in early February. All surveillance and investigation activities linked to this detection are now finished. Biosecurity New Zealand has thanked KVH for supporting the deployment and management of additional BMSB traps, which strengthens the national surveillance programme’s effort. The investigation also highlighted the value of strong partnerships between industry, on behalf of growers, and Biosecurity New Zealand in protecting New Zealand’s biosecurity system. This is a positive outcome for our industry and all kiwifruit growers. Read more about KVH’s BMSB industry surveillance activities here.
Read more22/05/2026
The KVH Board is calling for nominations for a grower director for a term of three years. Simon Cook’s term as grower elected representative ends in August and he will be re-standing for this vacancy. Nomination forms are available here and must be returned to KVH at [email protected] along with a list of all interests in the kiwifruit industry by 5pm, Friday 3 July 2026. Grower members will be asked to vote for their preferred nominees, and the successful candidates will be announced following this year’s annual meeting.
Read more18/05/2026
Published by New Zealand Geographic, this comprehensive article follows the real‑life biosecurity effort in Auckland to find and eliminate the Yellow‑legged hornet before it can gain any foothold in New Zealand. The article highlights how this aggressive invasive insect poses a serious risk to pollinators and horticulture and shows the scale and complexity of the response operation - from public sightings and field surveillance to specialist tracking and nest destruction. It underlines the critical role of early detection and reporting in protecting New Zealand’s primary industries – including kiwifruit growers - demonstrating how community vigilance and rapid response can make all the difference between eradication and long‑term impact. Image: Mark a hornet and you can figure out its flight line and time in the air - data that often leads teams right to the nest. Credit Lottie Hedley, New Zealand Geographic.
Read more22/05/2026
We have a new resource on the way, helping with advice on when and how to sample unusual symptoms and signs of disease on-orchard. With the help of the team at Trevelyan’s – and their top notch acting skills – we were out earlier this week, putting together a video that will be out soon to show how, with the ongoing assistance of KVH, you can check, collect, and dispatch samples that will provide the best chance of accurate and timely results. Keep an eye out for this new resource coming soon. It’s a simple, practical tool to help you act quickly and confidently if something doesn’t look right in your orchard.
Read more22/05/2026
KVH joined the action at the recent AgriFutures Clash of the Colleges competition held for the first time in the Bay of Plenty and hosted at Kenna’s Kiwifruit Orchard in Katikati. Thirty-four teams of four students, representing eight secondary schools, competed across 17 agriculture and horticulture modules designed to showcase the practical, fast-paced nature of New Zealand’s primary industries. As part of the KVH activity, teams were challenged to identify pest images retrieved from surveillance traps and determine which pests were already present in New Zealand and which represented potential biosecurity threats that should be reported to Biosecurity New Zealand. Amongst the common New Zealand huhu beetles, butterflies and shield bugs, many teams quickly identified and reported the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) and fruit piercing moth, two of the “most unwanted” featured on KVH’s pest ID cards, a well referenced resource at the event. AgriFutures Clash of the Colleges was first launched in 2019 and was brought to the Bay of Plenty through the support and encouragement of local organisers who are already planning for an even bigger competition next year. Image: Students taking part in the KVH biosecurity activity at Clash of the Colleges.
Read more22/05/2026
The response to the Yellow‑legged hornet in Auckland is tracking well, with no hornets or nests detected for more than six weeks, which is considered a strong signal that eradication is achievable. Detection activity has remained confined to a small area on Auckland’s North Shore, and the lack of recent finds, despite intensive trapping and searching, has increased confidence the incursion is being successfully contained. As outlined by Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard yesterday, the response is now shifting into a new phase as winter approaches. Field operations will scale back from intensive searching to ongoing trapping and monitoring, while teams prepare for the risk of any surviving queens emerging in spring. The Minister emphasised that eradication will take time, requiring several years of surveillance with no detections, and urged the public to remain vigilant, continuing to report any sightings and take care not to inadvertently spread overwintering queens. More information is available on the KVH Yellow-legged hornet response page.
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Fruit flies are the kiwifruit industry's most unwanted biosecurity threat. Any incursion can severely impact where we sell our fruit. The high risk period for fruit flies is September to June.
The Queensland Fruit Fly (QFF), native to Australia (our closest neighbour), is considered to be the greatest threat and has the most market impacts.
The financial impact of a fruit fly incursion in Te Puke to New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry is estimated to be between $200 million and $695 million. A Kiwifruit Journal article summarises the financial impacts of different incursion scenarios based on previous fruit fly incursions in New Zealand and overseas and economic modelling by Underwood (2023).
Pest ranking based on the KVH risk matrix
View risk matrixKVH has developed a guide for growers that details the likely sequence of events if a fruit fly response was to occur in a kiwifruit growing region.
Plant & Food Research have been granted permission to import sterile QFF into a New Zealand containment facility to develop new attractants for female and male flies.
This long-term project will determine what the flies can smell and whether the odours can be used to improve the sensitivity of traps or increase the numbers of flies lured in. Three approaches are being used; odours based on host fruit, sex pheromones and bacteria.
This research is part of a larger collaborative approach with Australian organisations to manage and eradicate QFF populations.
Supporting this is a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) facility that can produce 50 million sterile QFF per week as an eradication tool for release in Australia or New Zealand should an established population ever become large enough for this to be required. Read more about the project here.
KVH supports these research activities as an integral component of our readiness activities for the industry’s most unwanted biosecurity threat.
KVH investigates reports of unusual symptoms to identify and manage any biosecurity risks.
04 Jun 2026
We look forward to seeing you at Mystery Creek next week. We’ll be in the Zespri stand at Site F49 (our usual spot) connecting with growers and taking part in midday presentations each day. Gates are open - and we’re on-site - daily from Wednesday to Friday, 8.00am to 5.00pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Fieldays website.
Read more04 Jun 2026
As winter falls, the figures are in for the 2025-26 summer season (December to February), revealing another busy summer for biosecurity officers patrolling New Zealand’s international airports. Passenger volumes exceeded last summer’s levels, reaching higher than pre-pandemic levels for some airports. Despite this increase, biosecurity processing ran smoothly with improvements such as the continued use of express risk assessment lanes in Auckland, additional officers, and expanded detector dog teams, ensuring a positive arrival experience for travellers while continuing to protect New Zealand’s borders. Summer number for 2025-26: Air passenger arrivals: 2.05mAirport with highest number of arrivals: Auckland with 1.47m Passengers with seized goods (declared): 15.6k Passengers with seized goods (undeclared): 3.4k Passengers fined: 2767 Passengers warned 296Busiest day nationwide: 21 December with 27,849 arrivals
Read more04 Jun 2026
Biosecurity has again been ranked the number one priority for agribusiness leaders, holding its top spot for the 16th consecutive year – and achieving its highest score since 2018. The 2026 Agribusiness Agenda goes further than previous years, positioning biosecurity as a “foundational pillar of sector resilience”. Recent responses to incursions such as avian influenza and the Yellow-legged hornet show what can be achieved through strong collaboration between industry and government. However, the report warns against overconfidence. Biosecurity risks are increasing and changing, driven by factors like climate change and global connectivity. At the same time, many export sectors rely on monocultures - increasing the potential impact of a single incursion. A key message this year is the need to move from relying on past responses to actively preparing for future threats, including targeting effort based on real risk (not a one-size-fits-all approach); using data and analytics to guide decisions; and ensuring systems evolve with changing threats. For the kiwifruit industry, the report themes are a real reminder that biosecurity is central to long-term resilience, requiring effort and commitment from all. KVH’s work, from preparedness and surveillance to practical grower guidance, directly supports the direction set out in this year’s Agenda. View the biosecurity page from the report here, or see the full report on the KPMG website here.
Read more