Whangarei Monitoring

The first positive orchard in the Whangarei region was confirmed in September 2015. A controlled area was put in place around the positive orchard, which restricted movement of risk material. A second orchard was found to be positive on 7 October 2016 within the controlled area. KVH last week carried out a round of monitoring in a selection of orchards in the immediate area. Ten orchards were selected including a local market planting. The total area monitored was 21.80ha. Three of the orchards still had 16A plantings – the others were G3 and Hayward. Fruit had set in the 16A orchards, with flowering well underway in the G3 and bees in the orchards. Hayward flowering appeared to be a little while off with buds mostly quite tight. Samples were taken from five orchards where some cane dieback was observed – these samples were returned Psa Not Detected. Growers in the region have been monitoring fortnightly throughout spring, with the final round completed on 7 November. They are to be commended for their efforts and encouraged to keep up regular monitoring to enable any Psa symptoms to be identified early and appropriate action taken.