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KGI, November Update

Posted By HBFA | November 16, 2021

Jens Liesebach,  KGI Lower North Island Representative

What a relief it was to get some spring rain. Whilst the region received approximately 80mm rain, Gisborne received 250mm rain in the same timeframe. In contrast, Opotiki had very strong gusts that blew out perfect shoots and devastated spring canopies. Green kiwifruit growers are poised to bring in the bees whilst Gold growers are starting to sharpening secateurs for male pruning.

The Zespri Grower Roadshow at the beginning of the month was well attended. Shipping of fruit from the current season will finish in six weeks. The next harvest is predicted to be a challenging one. Not only does Zespri expect an additional 17M trays of Gold kiwifruit compared to the current season, but it is also estimated that the Bay of Plenty alone will be short of 6,500 workers during harvest. Zespri is talking to all stakeholders to find solutions to get the fruit from the orchard to the market as smoothly as possible. The last message from the Roadshow was that Zespri is going to release red and gold kiwifruit license in 2022 with a tweak of the conditions.

KVH is hosting a series of regional biosecurity workshops to assist growers with the development of an on-orchard biosecurity programme; helping growers to identify key practices to enhance biosecurity measures and to manage the threat of unwanted pests and diseases. The Hawke’s Bay workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, 17 November, 9am at the Crown Hotel, Napier.

The Zespri Global Extension team invites you to an on-orchard irrigation workshop on Thursday, 18 November, 10am at 2 Moteo Pa Road, Puketapu.  At this workshop, you will learn about how to calculate irrigation needs for your orchard, strategies for applying water, soil moisture monitoring and where to measure soil moisture on your orchard. You will learn and practice how to prepare a simple weekly water budget and daily irrigation schedule based on the specifics of your orchard.  Please register for this workshop here.

The Zespri Pre-Harvest team is coming to Napier to discuss good agricultural practice. The GLOBAL G.A.P. certification programme exists to deliver assurance to our customers, however for it to be really successful, it needs to work for growers. This is your chance to have some input into the future direction of the GAP programme. All growers, orchard personnel including contractors, advisors, managers, grower services and others working with, or on orchards are encouraged to attend the forum on Wednesday, 24 November, 9:30am at the Crown Hotel. Please register here.

See you at the workshops.

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