Winter is the time when growers look to replace plants on their orchards or plant new blocks. This article is a reminder that if these plants are being moved between properties there are biosecurity requirements that must be met to reduce the likelihood of spreading pests and diseases, including Psa. These requirements also provide the best chance of a successful response if a new organism was detected in our industry.

As a general rule, plants may only be sourced from nurseries that have demonstrated they meet the requirements of the National Kiwifruit Pathway Management Plan by achieving certification to either KVH’s Kiwifruit Plant Certification Scheme (KPCS) or Plant Pass, an equivalent biosecurity scheme for all nursery plants, not only kiwifruit.

Certified nurseries are listed on the KVH website and it’s important for growers to understand that there are two options available:

• Full certification plants: these are plants that are free of Psa and other target organisms. Nurseries with these plants have demonstrated the ability to keep Psa out of their growing environment and plants have tested Psa Not Detected.

• Restricted certification plants: these are plants that may have the common New Zealand form of Psa (Psa-V) but are tested to demonstrate freedom of non-New Zealand and resistant strains of Psa.

The only exception is Grow for Your Own Use, where growers can grow plants on the property they are to be used on, without certification requirements. Growers can also move plants between KPINs under the same ownership (but only to a maximum of 1000 plants per year). Traceability records must be maintained but there are no registration or certification requirements.

Plants displaying symptoms of disease are not to be moved and both the nursery and recipient are to maintain traceability records should symptoms develop at a later stage and tracing be required.

Please contact KVH at info@kvh.org.nz or 0800 665 825 if you would like more information about the requirements or visit our dedicated nursery page.