YOUR LEVY AT WORK
Biosecurity – The year in review 2021
BIOSECURITY FEATURE
The Covid-19 pandemic has made the general public much more aware of terms that were already familiar to those of us involved in horticulture, pest management and biosecurity. By Anna Rathé : HortNZ biosecurity manager Terms like transmission, quarantine, vectors, latent periods, slowing the spread and virulence. Hopefully the whole nation (and world) experiencing a human health biosecurity event will help with better biosecurity understanding and behaviours from the public in the future – which will, in turn, help to protect the sector. Whilst passenger numbers remain low, online shopping has boomed. E-commerce is an increasingly important pathway and with international packages comes biosecurity risk that needs to be managed carefully. Supply chain disruption has resulted in major delays with getting important goods and equipment into the country. Despite these challenging delays it is important to take the time to inspect any item from overseas carefully in an 8
The ORCHARDIST : DECEMBER 2021
enclosed space before taking it out into the field or packhouse. It is critical to keep up with what is happening with pests, diseases and weeds overseas. International experts have been kind enough to virtually share their knowledge and learnings with New Zealand scientists, industry and officials this year to help us better prepare. Examples include spotted lanternfly, which is present in Pennsylvania and brown marmorated stink bug perspectives from Chile, Italy and the US. We are also watching what is happening over the ditch in terms of emerging risks. Australia has recently seen the rapid spread of fall armyworm as well as detections of two types of leafminer and a shot-hole borer – all pests that we don’t want to arrive here in New Zealand.
