Today Seeka Limited advised the market that the Australian Regulatory Authorities have confirmed Psa on the Seeka orchards in Australia, affecting 4.5 hectares of its 154 hectares of kiwifruit orchards.
"It is not definitively decided which strain of Psa it is, but it is likely to be Psa3 one of the Asian strains." stated Michael Franks, Seeka CEO. "We are not clear how it got into Australia, the only plant material we have in our Australian orchards has come from Australian sources, either from existing nurseries or our other orchards. We are working with Agriculture Victoria to ascertain how it got there."
The company removed the fruit scion from the top of 4.5 hectares of rootstock, so the rootstock is still there and they have another 47 hectares of ungrafted rootstock which they are checking everyday to see if there is any infection. There has been no significant deterioration since the disease was discovered, the 4,5 hectares was a precautionary measure and Seeka are removing varieties which are likely to be susceptible and are managing the area with a targeted spraying program. Containment protocols have been in place since detection, as have high hygiene procedures and restrictions on moving plants.
"It has had no immediate significant financial impact on the Australian business but it will slow down development a little bit. We will graft rootstock which is suitable for Hayward to Hayward and look for a gold fruit to go on the non suitable for Hayward, It will just take a bit longer to come to full production.
"We are not nervous about Psa being there, we as growers have experience working in a Psa environment and I would stress that this is a plant health issue and not a food safety one.
"It is disappointing that it is there, but we have done everything reasonably possible to make sure we didn't transfer Psa from New Zealand and we are working constructively with Agriculture Victoria who have been absolutely fantastic."
For more information;
Kim McFadden
Seeka
Tel: +64 (0) 27 202 9298
Email: kim.mcfadden@seeka.co.nz