43 new cases of the virulent PSa-V Kiwifruit vine disease have been recorded in the past week, lending weight to the real fear that this could see the end of the gold kiwifruit industry in Te Puke in the not too distant future.

Now 369 orchards are inffected with PSa-V, and nearly 450 orchards, more than 13 per cent of all kiwifruit orchards, are affected by the disease in some way.

In just a few months the disease has spread from kiwifruit heartland, Te Puke, to Waihi, Whakatane and KatiKati.

PSA was confirmed in New Zealand less than a year ago.

But the disease is confirmed or suspected in most kiwifruit producing countries including Japan and Korea, where it has been established for a long time.

It has taken just three years to virtually wipe out Italy’s gold kiwifruit production, and has also been identified in France, and is suspected to be in other European countries as well.

On Wednesday Agriculture Minister David Carter met kiwifruit officials in Te Puke and said afterwards beating the disease could take longer than the industry hoped. He said the best prospects for control lie in developing resistant varieties of kiwifruit.

Delegates at a major kiwifruit conference in Tauranga this week have been told that the rest of the world looks to New Zealand to take a lead in managing the disease.

Exporter Zespri’s PSA Innovation Manager David Tanner said a joint-industry programme to produce a new variety opf the fruit, tolerant or resistant to PSA, has been stepped up.

In the short term, protecting vines with chemicals is buying time for the industry.

New Zealand was the first country to develop the fruit commercially and these days produces 30 per cent of the world’s kiwifruit, worth $1.5 billion.