Kiwifruit copper trial gets funds

Zespri innovation leader Mary Black and Kiwifruit Vine Health chief executive Barry O'Neil are pleased at the response to the copper programme in the Bay of Plenty.

A Bay of Plenty project designed to make the most of copper to control Psa in kiwifruit has received a boost of more than $500,000 from the Government.

The funding, to be provided over three years, comes under the Sustainable Farming Fund that allocated $9.9 million to 31 projects nationwide.

Zespri innovation leader Mary Black, who will manage the project, says copper is widely used in the industry and the Bay of Plenty programme is the ideal opportunity to investigate how it can be used more effectively.

In addition to money from the Ministry for Primary Industries, Zespri and Kiwi Vine Health are contributing $300,000 from the research and development programme.

There is also a substantial in-kind pledge from industry.

"That is time, equipment or product commitment that is given to the project free of charge."

"There is a huge community interest and big steering group involved," Black says. Manufacturers are giving chemicals and agri-chemical contractors will loan equipment and contribute their time.

The next step will be to confirm the project proposal, which will hopefully start in spring.

"Copper is widely used for bacterial diseases in a range of crops and since the Psa incursion in New Zealand it's been used quite a bit," Black says.

"A lot of trials have been in place to look at copper, to look at different products and different rates and we have made a huge step forward since the incursion in 2010.

"But there are still a lot of questions around: are we using it right, can we use it better and are our practices sustainable?"

The project will focus on optimising the agri-chemical control of Psa with copper while ensuring its sustainable use.

"There is an aspect in there looking at the accumulation of biologically available copper in the soil and looking at effects on micro-organisms."

Kiwifruit Vine Health chief executive Barry O'Neil says few tools are available to manage Psa and copper is at the top of the list.

It is important to understand the science behind copper, O'Neil says.

"As growers we don't want to be using products that we don't need to."

It is paramount for growers to realise that copper is working and there are minimal environmental side-effects.

"We think it's a really important project and that is why we are supporting it," O'Neil says.

Copper applications in orchards last year ranged from one to 20, with seven the average, although that was on the lower side of what Kiwifruit Vine Health considers best practice.

Psa had a lower presence in the Bay this year because of dry weather and the removal of Hort 16A.

The Tuhono Whenua project, which aims to lift the productivity and profitability of collectively owned Maori kiwifruit orchards in the Bay of Plenty, Northland and Gisborne, also received Sustainable Farming funding.