Te Puke police Senior Sergeant Deidre Lack said the teen was hit when the tractor driver lost control.
The orchard owner did not return calls today.
About 2700 kiwifruit orchards are harvested during the season from mid-March until the end of May.
Accidents on orchards were rare and the long-time safety procedures in place ``work very well'', said NZ Kiwifruit Growers Inc chief executive Mike Chapman.
"Thankfully [accidents are] not that common at all, which is very good.''
"I wouldn't think there's any need to change the safety procedures. We've got to put it in perspective, there're 2700 orchards and only one accident this season,'' he said.
There were no age restrictions for pickers, who got on-the-job training including a safety briefing, said Mr Chapman.
Training usually took about half a day.
Orchards were also audited throughout the picking season to check safety, procedures and quality of the fruit, he said.
When picking fruit, workers usually picked it into bags, which were emptied into bins and a tractor then transported the bins to the packhouse.
There was a similar incident in the region last year when a man was run over by a tractor, said Mr Beach.
The Department of Labour is investigating the latest incident, which could take up to six months, said a spokeswoman.
Three people have been killed in agriculture incidents this year.
