Kiwifruit growers in New Zealand's North Island appear to have avoided widespread damage following recent flooding events, with harvest preparations continuing as planned. According to New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers chief executive Colin Bond, growing areas including Bay of Plenty, Northland, Coromandel, and parts of the east coast experienced heavy rainfall, with some locations recording more than 400 millimetres within 24 hours.
Bond said most of the impact was related to elevated water levels rather than direct damage to vines, and it remains too early to determine any effects on vine health. "At the most extreme, we had an orchard in Welcome Bay that was involved in one of the slips. Over a hectare of kiwifruit has been wiped out there," he said. He added that there may be a small number of other orchards that experienced flooding damage.
Despite the rainfall, Bond does not expect the flooding to affect the start of harvest, which is due to begin shortly with red kiwifruit. He said the events were not extensive enough to influence overall crop volumes. "The flooding had not been widespread enough for it to cause an impact on crop volumes," he said.
Food safety remains a point of attention. "The big impact is the significant impact through orchards, and then would it have touched the fruit? And that might create a food safety risk," Bond said. To date, he has not received reports of fruit contamination linked to floodwater.
Infrastructure damage is presenting logistical challenges in parts of the region. Bond raised concerns about the condition of State Highway 2 between Ōpōtiki and Gisborne, an area with around 700 hectares of kiwifruit vines. The route is used to transport fruit after harvest and is currently closed following flood damage.
"We're about two weeks out from the start of harvest, so it's not ideal timing for the fruit or for the infrastructure," Bond said.
Growers and industry representatives continue to assess orchard conditions while monitoring transport access ahead of peak harvest activity.
Source: Farmers Weekly
