Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), along with spring frosts and vine diseases, are expected to have a considerable impact on the kiwifruit harvest in Verona and Veneto this season.

As noted at a late September convention of the Verona Chamber of Commerce, the regional production estimated for 2017 for Veneto is 35,761 tonnes, 33% less than 2016, while in Verona it will be 26,155 tonnes, 36% less than 2016.

Representatives at the convention from a Verona consortium for the protection of kiwifruit, said although the province must deal with root asphyxia kiwifruit is still very important to the region. KVH and Zespri have contributed funding to research to determine if pathogens are contributing to root asphyxia in Verona and therefore understand if this presents a biosecurity threat to New Zealand.

While the Italian figures are only estimates, they align with current KVH knowledge suggesting that should BMSB establish in New Zealand, impacts could include up to 30% fruit loss from fruit drop and storage rot.

KVH is in regular contact with Italian growers, alongside Zespri colleagues, and we closely follow trends that may also become apparent on orchards here. We noted in an April Bulletin that bad weather in Italy had led to spring Psa infection higher than previous years, and we recently published a video on our YouTube channel showing the effects of BMSB on Italian orchards.

Read the news out of Italy about the estimated production losses via Fresh Plaza here.