Keeping the South Island Psa-V free

Keeping the South Island Psa-V free

From Our Changing World by RNZ

April 20, 2026 · 27 min · Episode 412

About this episode

The episode discusses the efforts to keep the Psa-V bacterial disease out of the South Island and its impact on the kiwifruit industry.

In 2010 the Psa-V bacterial disease was found in a Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchard. This was the beginning of a terrible ordeal for many kiwifruit growers. It devastated crops, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars. But though it spread to some other areas in the North Island, it never made it across the Cook Strait. Claire Concannon learns about the science behind keeping this microbe out of Te Waipounamu. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more. Learn more: The Plant and Food Research (today the Bioeconomy Science Institute) team who worked on science to help with the kiwifruit Psa crisis won the Prime Minister’s Science Prize in 2017 . In 2012 Alison Ballance reported on the hunt for resistance genes so kiwifruit plants could be more resilient in the face of this bacteria . As In-Depth reporter Farah Hancock detailed earlier this year, 95% of the kiwifruit grown here are actually exported - an earner of $4.5 billion in 2025. Guests: Falk Kalamorz Rebecca Manners, Bioeconomy Science Institute Dr Ed Morgan, Bioeconomy Science Institute Leanne Stewart, Kiwifruit Vine Health Go…

People in this episode

Host: Claire Concannon

Guests: Falk Kalamorz, Rebecca Manners, Dr Ed Morgan, Leanne Stewart

Topics covered

  • Psa-V bacterial disease
  • kiwifruit industry
  • bioeconomy
  • plant health
  • agriculture science

Keywords

  • Psa-V
  • kiwifruit
  • bioeconomy
  • plant disease
  • agriculture
  • New Zealand
  • crop health

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bioeconomy Science Institute, Kiwifruit Vine Health

Places: Te Waipounamu, Bay of Plenty, North Island, Cook Strait

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