Zespri is going to test every orchard in New Zealand to see if desperate growers have been misusing sprays to try and save their vines from the onslaught of Psa-V.
Kiwifruit Growers president, Neil Treblico, said that this may have been taking place in September when the disease became prevalent in the Bay of Plenty.
"There may have been some growers who were desperate enough to use products that they shouldn't have used, and obviously, as an industry, we'll be looking at that and making the appropriate decisions to make sure that none of that product gets to market."
Zespri conducts tests anyway, but these are random and they are now stepping up their surveillance. With the harvest due to begin in a few weeks Treblico urged anyone who may have been misapplying any substances to come forward as soon as possible. Some growers have responded to this call already.
"There's literally hundreds of products and a lot of them are not permitted for use [here] so if growers have used it we want to know about it.
"We are absolutely aware that we need to protect our markets."
Government agencies have been testing a range of sprayed and injected antibiotics to counter the disease, but the injected product was abandoned and approved sprays had to be used within strict timeframes.
Zespri chairman John Loughlin knew of no actual cases of growers ignoring the withholding periods although he acknowledged there were rumours. "Our position on testing was formalised right at the outset when we approved the tool. We are wanting to protect the 99.9 per cent of growers who have done everything properly ... and secondly we want to protect our brand and our message for global consumers."
He said the risk to human health as a result of any misapplication was not great. he said the risk was more to the industry - that the use of anti-biotics outside of controls would lead to a building up of resistance and the decline in a treatment's efficiency.
Kiwifruit Growers president, Neil Treblico, said that this may have been taking place in September when the disease became prevalent in the Bay of Plenty.
"There may have been some growers who were desperate enough to use products that they shouldn't have used, and obviously, as an industry, we'll be looking at that and making the appropriate decisions to make sure that none of that product gets to market."
Zespri conducts tests anyway, but these are random and they are now stepping up their surveillance. With the harvest due to begin in a few weeks Treblico urged anyone who may have been misapplying any substances to come forward as soon as possible. Some growers have responded to this call already.
"There's literally hundreds of products and a lot of them are not permitted for use [here] so if growers have used it we want to know about it.
"We are absolutely aware that we need to protect our markets."
Government agencies have been testing a range of sprayed and injected antibiotics to counter the disease, but the injected product was abandoned and approved sprays had to be used within strict timeframes.
Zespri chairman John Loughlin knew of no actual cases of growers ignoring the withholding periods although he acknowledged there were rumours. "Our position on testing was formalised right at the outset when we approved the tool. We are wanting to protect the 99.9 per cent of growers who have done everything properly ... and secondly we want to protect our brand and our message for global consumers."
He said the risk to human health as a result of any misapplication was not great. he said the risk was more to the industry - that the use of anti-biotics outside of controls would lead to a building up of resistance and the decline in a treatment's efficiency.
Source: www.stuff.co.nz
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