KVH ran its regular KiwiNet workshop last Wednesday, with around 40 people from across the kiwifruit industry coming together for the day’s presentations.

This third KiwiNet workshop of 2020 included a session on what we know, what we’re learning, and how we’re building our understanding of risk from vine decline. Dr Sonia Whiteman from Zespri focused on Kiwifruit Vine Decline Syndrome (KVDS) and Erin Lane from KVH focused on Kiwifruit Trunk Disease. Both gave presentations that detailed what has been learnt so far about vine decline from ongoing research and overseas experience, and current management advice for growers. KVDS has been of particular interest to many lately, and has had a lot of media attention – read our article about how the syndrome highlights the importance of a Pathway Plan, like the one we are currently proposing, here.

The workshop also gave attendees an exclusive insight into the changes and challenges being faced head-on at our borders. Mike Inglis, Northern Regional Commissioner at the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and this teams are responsible for our passenger, mail, freight, and cruise pathways in the upper North Island and he talked about the work they are doing to ensure we have the world’s safest and smartest border – including impacts of COVID-19, evolving technology, risk profiling, and the importance of collaboration with proactive industries like kiwifruit.

You can view PowerPoint presentations from the day on the KVH website here and read more about the KiwiNet group here.