A new analysis of the damage to apple orchards in Hawke's Bay shows nearly half of the crop was affected by Cyclone Gabrielle in one way or another. New Zealand Apples and Pears Chairperson Richard Punter said 47 percent of the crop has been affected, with the level of damage being broken down into three categories.
Category one was orchards that have been completely destroyed, the trees and infrastructure was gone and they were going to require complete redevelopment.
Category two was orchards that have been completely submerged and have deep silt through them which will result in significant tree death. Punter said those two categories combined was about 25 percent of the planted area in Hawke's Bay or around 2100 hectares.
The third category was being classed as 'workable', the orchards will have a reduced crop percentage, they have had water through them, the trees are water logged but some of the fruit is salvageable. Punter said around 1800 hectares sits under category three - so, all told, the impacted hectares is about 3900.
Source: rnz.co.nz
