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Barry‘s orchard vehicle is an aging VW Golf he ‘converted’ to fit under the vines when it failed yet another warrant
Windstorm’s impact will be far reaching The full impacts of ex-cyclone Dovi which hit Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchards on February 13 might not be known until the 2023 harvest, says kiwifruit grower and president of HortNZ, Barry O’Neil. Elaine Fisher The high winds brought down trees and shelter across some orchard blocks, blew down string poles, stripped fruit and leaves from vines and damaged replacement canes, leaving growers with massive clean-up and repair work just weeks before the harvest began.
Barry says some growers will have less export fruit and possibly higher reject rates due to wind damaged fruit, but the big concern is also for how the vines will fare through to the next harvest.
bark has been damaged by wind rub, and those which have been stressed by the storm. “I will tie down what I can and take the risk of Psa. There are treatments we can use to help protect the vines, including copper and Aureo Gold, but at this time of the season you have to be careful because of the risk of fruit staining.”
“On my orchard the leaves have gone from leader canes I want to lay down for next season and some have been terminated by the wind. They have produced new shoots but not the fruiting wood I want.”
Sunburn is another factor. “The wind has taken leaves off the canopy, especially in the outside rows, allowing the sun to penetrate and burning the skin on exposed fruit. These fruit are exploders. They are soft and will explode on the grader, so I will be employing staff to go through and remove the damaged fruit before harvest.
He’s also concerned about an increased risk of infection by the vine disease Psa-V, especially in younger vines where
“It is fortunate that the fruit is less sensitive this time of year to rubbing damage. If we had had these winds in December, it
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The ORCHARDIST : APRIL 2022
