White Peach Scale slumps

Great news, we have the latest season numbers in, and detections of White Peach Scale (WPS) are continuing to decline at a steady rate.

Since the 2015/16 season (when there were 13 interceptions!), there has been a promising downward trend with only a single border detection of WPS the 2022/23 season, which ran from December through to March.

This is likely a direct result of all the hard work that has gone into ensuring engagement with our offshore partners and keeping watch to ensure risk remains appropriately managed.

Imported kiwifruit is a potential pathway into the country for the unwanted WPS, a pest that could easily adapt to New Zealand conditions and threaten production.

WPS could have a significant impact on the kiwifruit industry with reported fruit losses of 10-20% being recorded in some years in Latina, Italy. As well as production issues, there are possible market access issues as we see with many other scale species, and the pest is therefore considered a serious threat to not only the kiwifruit industry but also other horticultural industries.

KVH continues to work closely with Biosecurity New Zealand on WPS and at the end of every season we review data so that we can be assured interceptions are not increasing and that offshore interventions remain appropriate.