Kiwifruit sector's big night out
The turmoil and challenges faced by the kiwifruit industry in the past 30 years were put to one side but not forgotten at a glitzy night for 400 kiwifruit growers and guests in Mt Maunganui recently.
The harvest translates to a return of about 14,000 trays per hectare - up from 9,600 trays in 2012.
The orchard is managed by Direct Management Services (DMS), a kiwifruit management, harvesting and packing company which operates across the wider Western Bay of Plenty.
The block was selected for partial conversion to G3 in 2010 and produced 9,300 fruit per hectare last year. Based on the success of the initial harvest, a further 3.6ha of Hayward vines have also been converted to G3. The first harvests from that block are expected in 2014.
DMS director, Paul Jones, says this year's G3 harvest from the orchard is a fantastic result, particularly in the context of the site's Psa history.
"The New Zealand kiwifruit industry still has a very strong future, despite the challenges of Psa - we just have to get clever and creative with our approach to growing and managing kiwifruit orchards. The returns on green kiwifruit remain strong, but the opportunities around gold are even better," says Jones.
"We have to learn to live with Psa, but the original 16A gold variety does not have a future in New Zealand as a result of the disease.
"We believe G3 will become the mainstream New Zealand Gold variety - we already know it is relatively easy to grow, it is profitable and it has a higher tolerance of Psa than other gold varieties.
"This latest harvest from a converted block shows we're on the right track and further demonstrates the enormous potential of G3," says Jones.
Jones says the results should also provide further confidence to growers who are converting part of their orchard to G3 - or those that are considering making the conversion.
"The results are starting to speak for themselves. We firmly believe G3 is the way forward for the industry in New Zealand."
DMS is so convinced of the potential of G3 that it has offered to help growers convert part their orchards to the new variety, at no cost to the grower. The offer was announced to growers in March, with an information evening held in Mt Maunganui in early April.
About 60 growers indicated their interest in taking up the offer at the meeting. Since then, DMS staff have been undertaking site visits and meeting with individual growers to determine suitability for conversion.
"It's not too late for other growers to express an interest in our G3 conversion programme. There are only a limited number of G3 licences available from Zespri, totalling 400ha for 2013, and we expect those licences will reach capacity soon. The time for growers considering converting to G3 to move on this is now."
For further information about DMS and G3, go to www.dms4kiwi.co.nz
