Control of kiwifruit canker could cost millions - Govt

Taxpayers may have to pay "millions of dollars" to control the kiwifruit vine canker spreading in the Bay of Plenty.

Agriculture Minister David Carter yesterday announced a proposal for "aggressive containment" of the bacterial pest -- known as PSA -- which has so far been found in a 23km-wide area around Te Puke, and said it was likely to require spending which "will certainly be some millions of dollars".

Mr Carter said that aggressive containment "will almost inevitably involve some removal of some of the worst-infected vines, and the destruction of that material so it doesn't allow the spread of that bacteria".

But the cutting out of some infected vines, controls on the movement of people and orchard equipment and spraying orchards with copper solutions to suppress bacteria, fall short of the ripping up and burning of infected plants which some growers have said may be necessary to eradicate the bacteria.

"With around 500 hectares now infected, eradication is looking increasingly difficult, at least in the short term."

Mr Carter said 13 kiwifruit orchards had now tested positive for the bacterial infection and 16 had been put on movement controls.

Both the Ministry of Agriculture and industry agreed aggressive containment was the best option for now, though eradication had not been ruled out. Industry executives will meet again today and biosecurity officials will brief the minister tomorrow.

Earlier Zespri's corporate and grower services director Carol Ward told journalists the industry was working through a response plan but needed to talk with the minister and MAF biosecurity officials about it.

"We are seeing symptoms of a red ooze on these vines," she said. On some orchards, the disease has progressed in a month from leaf spotting through to the collapse of the vines, with some of them bleeding a red liquid from cankers.

"The only prudent approach is an aggressive strategy in the industry for managing PSA," she said. "We have a pretty good chance of getting on top of it."

Ms Ward said how the bacteria responded to New Zealand conditions was critical to the virulence and severity of the Bay of Plenty incursion -- she suggested that variations between strains found in Italy, Japan and Korea were likely to be less important.

None of the those countries had been able to eradicate it.

"The best-case scenario is that it can be eradicated ... but if that isn't an option how do we make sure that we mitigate against its spread? Does it mean cutting and destroying, does it mean copper spray programmes?"

In the meantime, MAF has advised growers to stop using artificial pollination, saying it could be one way the disease had spread.