KVH ran it’s six monthly KiwiNet workshop this morning, with around 60 people from across the kiwifruit industry attending the day’s presentations.

Being the first KiwiNet gathering of 2020 it seemed appropriate to start the year off with a hiss and a roar, and include a special session with international guest speaker Kim Hoelmer and his colleague Elijah Talamas. Kim is an entomologist and researcher from the Agricultural Research Service at the US Department of Agriculture, specialising in biological control of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB).

Speaking to the group, Kim and Elijah talked about the arrival and spread of BMSB in the USA, its range of impacts, and natural enemies - particularly the Samurai Wasp, which is being used in the USA as a biological control and has now established itself in 13 states.

The workshop also provided an update on industry readiness for our most unwanted pests including a presentation on the network of BMSB traps in the Bay of Plenty; an overview of recent fruit fly response simulations KVH has run with several post-harvest organisations; a run-down on a proposed new approach to managing biosecuirty risk pathways (read more here about the consultation we’ve been running on a poprosed new Pathway Management Plan); and research projects.

You can view PowerPoint presentations from the day on the KVH website here.

KiwiNet is a network of people selected from across the kiwifruit industry who champion biosecurity readiness and coordinate the deployment of industry resources into biosecurity responses. You can read more about the work of the network here or in the recent Kiwifruit Journal.