Whangarei regional status changes to Recovery

04 February 2021

As advised to Whangarei growers earlier this week, from Tuesday 2 February the status of the Whangarei region has changed to Recovery.

This change comes after an extensive process by KVH, including undertaking Psa monitoring of orchards and an opinion survey of growers.

Psa was first detected in the Whangarei region in 2015 and has slowly progressed to the current state where December monitoring has confirmed 48% of the growing hectares in the region are now Psa positive.

The opinion survey had a response rate of over 90%, meaning we were able to hear from almost all growers in the region and better understand what is wanted for Whangarei going forward. The majority (64%) indicated they supported the change in status from Containment to Recovery and 36% were against a change.

Information has been sent to Whangarei growers detailing the decision and the actions we are undertaking to help those who remain not-detected maintain their Psa-free status. We have also provided information for those orchards that would like to access plant material from other Recovery regions.

Post-harvest contacts in the area, and nurseries, have also been sent information about the change and how they can assist in measures that provide the best opportunity for orchards to maintain Psa-free status, such as continuing to supply dedicated regional bins for this season.

Once again, thank you to all growers in the region for providing input and feedback regarding the regional status of Whangarei. Updated maps reflecting the change are available now on the KVH website as is the Notice of Controlled Areas Declaration - establishing regions.