Budwood suppliers reminded of need to monitor this spring

Budwood suppliers have been reminded there are some changes in the proposed new Pathway Management Plan that KVH recommends implementing now, so that you are prepared for when the proposal comes into effect from 1 April 2022 – including the need to undertake monitoring now if you intend to supply next year.

The proposed Pathway Plan includes specific requirements for the movement of budwood, which are very similar to current requirements under the National Psa-V Pest Management Plan (NPMP), but are not limited to the single organism Psa.

To meet the requirements of the proposed new Pathway Plan, budwood suppliers will need to:

• Register with KVH as a budwood supplier.
• Monitor your orchard this spring and tag any unhealthy/symptomatic vines. These vines must not be used for budwood collection. Spring monitoring is already a requirement under the NPMP so you will be monitoring your orchard at this time anyway. If you are considering supplying budwood in 2022, it is important that you undertake monitoring now.
• You need to maintain records of this monitoring (ideally including the number of vines tagged and the blocks they are in).
• For ‘Not Detected’ orchards, Psa testing is required for verification of orchard status (as per current state under the NPMP). However, we have changed our sampling protocol to provide a higher level of confidence at the same cost per sample.
• Complete a budwood biosecurity plan (which will be in a manual form). Budwood suppliers will already have been submitting a Budwood Risk Management Plan under current NPMP requirements.

Those who distribute budwood, but are not an orchard (including Zespri, nurseries grafters and others) must source budwood only from certified suppliers and will need to register with KVH and maintain traceability records. For nurseries, these distribution/traceability requirements are already in place under the Kiwifruit Plant Certification Scheme (KPCS).

KVH has distributed detailed information, including a copy of the draft budwood manual KVH has produced for suppliers (for when the Pathway Plan is implemented), If you would like to know more, please contact [email protected].