Editorial: Golden glow of hope after bleakest days

It's been a brutal 16 months in Te Puke. The vine disease Psa has ripped through the all-important kiwifruit industry like fire through a tinder dry forest - and the repercussions have been felt widely in the supporting business community and local economy.

Zespri and agencies such as Kiwifruit Vine Health have grappled with finding answers as growers have been forced to rip out blackened, wilting vines, their livelihoods threatened, in some cases ruined.

In December, there was even talk of people being on suicide watch, something which drove home to me just how nasty and dangerous this mess had become.

But today, there is good news. There is hope in the industry and in Te Puke. There is hope a way forward may have finally been found, one that will eventually allow the growers and the industry to bounce back.

This hope rests on a new variety of gold kiwifruit so far shown to be more resilient to Psa.

Gold3, or G3 as it is also known, looks set to be licensed widely across the industry and replace the traditional Zespri Gold variety that is so vulnerable to Psa.

This news, reported in yesterday's Bay of Plenty Times, couldn't come at a better time.

The Psa crisis has been overshadowed by the Christchurch earthquake and the Rena disaster, but has had a terrible impact on people locally. All this has happened in the wider context of a recession, leaving a tiny town of just over 7000 people vulnerable and a wider Bay economy battered and bruised.

Local businesspeople are quietly optimistic but the crisis remains raw for them. It has sparked a downward spiral of fewer customers, fewer jobs, fewer seasonal workers and less money circulating.

Zespri admits its pathway forward is not without risk. There are no guarantees but everyone is crossing their fingers that Gold3 is the saviour.

But any recovery is going to take time. Zespri points out it could be May until it gives the final green light to proceed with growing G3 across the industry. Any flow-on effects to local businesses will take even longer.

The kiwifruit industry accounts for about 25 per cent of the Bay's gross domestic product (GDP). Zespri is a $5 billion business contributing $2 billion to New Zealand's GDP and has directly or indirectly employed more than 26,000 people.

Given this, it's important the Government and banks help stimulate the industry.

In December, we reported the Government had contributed $25 million to the crisis - a figure I personally found underwhelming given the importance of the industry. It's vital G3 works and the industry keeps looking for other answers too.

The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.