Kiwifruit growers in the Bay of Plenty may just be able to breathe a little easier after some much needed good news over the weekend.

A potentially groundbreaking discovery by scientists looking at the effects of heat treatment on infected Kiwifruit pollen may be the answer desperate growers have been waiting for.

Te Puke company Kiwi Pollen, along with Plant and Food Research, has been leading the research, exposing infected pollen to high temperatures and killing the PSA bacteria.

Plant and Food business development manager Stuart Kay says the work so far has proved promising, and could have wider implications.

“Heat is the one that’s come through. We’ve proven in the lab that we’re clearly able to kill the PSA but keep all the good things in the pollen intact.

“If, in the future, MAF makes a decision to bring pollen into the country again, then this (treatment) could be used to clean that up and make sure it’s free of PSA.

“In the way we’ve envisioned it so far, though, it’s for use on New Zealand pollen.”

In further good news, test results from the five orchards outside the Te Puke area thought to be infected with PSA V have all returned negative.

Kiwifruit Vine Health, the industry funded organisation set up to deal with the disease, has said the results are a huge relief.