Mandatory orchard monitoring

All growers in Exclusion regions and all growers with ‘Not Detected’ orchards in all regions are required to carry out a round of mandatory monitoring between 15 September and 15 October, with results due to KVH by 31 October. Monitoring is a critical component of establishing Psa-presence, location, and volume so that it can be managed.

An online monitoring form is available on the KVH website here. Please call KVH on 0800 665 825 if you have any questions or require assistance to complete the online form.

Why is monitoring so important? Growers in Exclusion regions and with ‘Not Detected’ orchards need to monitor vines for Psa early, so we can act if anything is identified and protect the rest of their orchard as well as nearby growers.

Regular orchard monitoring enables growers to become familiar with their vines. It’s about learning what is usual, and what isn’t. Nine times out 10 when you see something odd it will be nothing, and that’s good, because it means that the one time it’s something of concern, we’re finding it. The sooner we learn about something unusual the more we can do to help.

KVH has developed ’Kiwifruit’s Most Unwanted’ information and fact sheets, which are available on the KVH website. While these organisms are considered the greatest potential threats to the kiwifruit industry, the next incursion we face could be another damaging pest or disease not yet on our radar. Look out for plants displaying any unusual symptoms and pests not commonly seen or identifiable to monitoring staff.