NZ kiwifruit sector on alert for mysterious Italian disease
New Zealand's kiwifruit industry is on alert following reports of a mystery disease that is sweeping through Italian orchards.
FRUIT GROWERS in Temuka, South Canterbury are searching their crop for more yellow spotted stink bug. This follows the discovery of a single unmated female bug last week.
Pipfruit NZ Inc. technical manager, market access, Dr Mike Butcher, has been working with MPI and local South Canterbury growers to help delineate the insect's distribution and can confirm that only a single insect has been found to date.
Stink bugs feed by puncturing plant tissue and sucking sap with their sharp piercing-sucking mouthparts.
Local growers have been searching their trees for sign of the insect and we are pleased to report no detections have been made. Close examination of the detected insect showed it to be an unmated female which, given the time of year, points to it most likely being a solitary hitchhiker insect from Asia.
"The insects are known to seek shelter and therefore 'hitchhike' on containers, cars and machinery but it is important to confirm there is no breeding population in the district and that is the point of the continued exercise." Butcher explains.
"Information and images of the insect will be made available to all local residents so that 'citizen science' can help confirm whether further insects are present - this approach has proven a key success process in other overseas and NZ detections of unwanted organisms."
This response is the first response under the new GIA approach to joint biosecurity – a partnership between MPI and industry. Pipfruit NZ Inc. in association with Kiwifruit Vine Health, the Forest Owners Association and MPI has formed a governance group to oversee the response. "It is encouraging to see GIA working successfully as a partnership after many years planning and development" Butcher says.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.