Summerfruit Update

Biosecurity is something summerfruit growers deal with every day. It’s not theoretical. The health of our orchards, the productivity of our land, and the long‑term confidence we have in our growing systems all depend on keeping pests and diseases out of New Zealand.

While export markets often attract attention, strong biosecurity is just as critical for growers supplying the domestic market. An incursion doesn’t distinguish between fruit grown for local consumers or offshore customers. The consequences are felt across regions, across crops, and across businesses.

At the same time, the future resilience of the summerfruit industry depends on innovation. New plant material and improved genetics are essential for lifting fruit quality, improving disease resistance, and adapting to changing growing conditions. It is important to recognise that the summerfruit sector no longer has active breeding programmes operating within New Zealand. As a result, the industry now relies almost exclusively on imported germplasm to fuel innovation and improvement.

That reliance makes getting the balance right absolutely critical. Import health standards exist to manage biosecurity risk while still enabling access to new plant material where it can be done safely. From a grower perspective, those standards need to be science‑based, proportionate, and workable in practice. If importing new genetics becomes overly complex, slow, or costly without delivering meaningful improvements in biosecurity outcomes, innovation slows – and growers ultimately bear that cost.

This is why Summerfruit New Zealand continues to engage closely with Biosecurity New Zealand on how plant import systems can evolve over time. The focus is on ensuring biosecurity settings are aligned with real risk, recognise effective offshore controls, and avoid unnecessary duplication – while still maintaining strong protection at the border. The goal is not to weaken biosecurity, but to ensure the system remains effective, efficient, and fit for purpose.

These themes – biosecurity, innovation, and the future of our industry – will be front and centre at our upcoming mid‑year summerfruit grower event on 21 May at Black Barn.

Prior to the dinner, we will be joined by Dr Mark O’Connell, who will share insights into what is currently happening in the Australian summerfruit industry. Australia faces many of the same challenges as New Zealand, from biosecurity pressures to varietal change and market dynamics, and there are bound to be useful learnings for Hawke’s Bay growers.

The evening is an opportunity to step back after the season, reconnect with fellow growers, hear a different perspective from across the Tasman, and continue important conversations about how we protect what we grow while positioning the industry well for the future.

I encourage Hawke’s Bay summerfruit growers to secure their tickets early and join us at Black Barn on 21 May. We look forward to catching up with many of you there.