Mike Chapman NZKGI Chief Executive

Growers, their families, kiwifruit industry workers and the community have paid the price for the Psa-V incursion.

Much of the suffering has not been visible to the public. The effects have also been uneven. Some orchards had to be cut out, and others have only been partially cut out. Some workers lost their jobs and others didn't.

To meet the Psa challenge, the kiwifruit industry developed four main initiatives for Psa control and management:
1. Biosecurity controls to contain and limit the spread of Psa as much as is possible. Initially, these controls were voluntary until the implementation of the National Psa-V Pest Management Plan (NPMP) in May 2013.
2. Psa research and development followed by grower extension/technical transfer passing on what has been discovered. This programme has seen new and effective sprays being developed that are making a difference.
3. Developing a pathway back to prosperity, based on finding Psa resistant/tolerant root stocks and varieties, and the removal of Hort16A – the gold variety that is very susceptible to Psa.
4. Grower and industry support and welfare to support those in need, to keep skills in the Bay of Plenty, and to enable us to have viable industry and community while kiwifruit recovers.

Early on in the crisis, a division of labour was put in place between Kiwifruit Vine Health and New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc. NZKGI took on industry wellbeing and funded the support activities from donations and from growers' funds. Since the declaration of an adverse event, by the Government in December 2012, this funding has mostly been provided by the Government. This initiative was led very ably by Ian Greaves; and resulted in a series of networks being established around the industry to support growers, their families and those employed by the industry. Those networks remain in place today and are actively supporting growers, their families and the wider industry.

At the end of 2011, support seminars were run throughout the Bay of Plenty providing advice and information on tax issues, financial decision making, the financial advocates' panel, an update on the work with banks, what support is on offer from Work and Income; and how to detect and manage stress. These meetings were open to everyone in the community. In Katikati, for example, about 100 people attended the seminar. Approximately half of the attendees were people who do not grow kiwifruit. In addition, drop-in clinics and courses teaching techniques to deal with stress have been run. Community organisations and the local churches have provided incredible support.
These support networks are being strengthened, and courses/drop-in operations are being expanded, to provide a range of options to hopefully meet all needs.

NZKGI also appointed a kiwifruit employment coordinator. The aim for this position was to retain skilled kiwifruit industry workers in the region. The role, which is funded by the Ministry of Social Development, focuses on meeting the skill and labour needs of employers in the kiwifruit industry by matching them to those who have lost their jobs as a result of Psa. The key emphasis is on providing quality employment opportunities to improve sustainable employment outcomes for people; and supporting skill retention in the kiwifruit industry.

NZKGI also set up a financial advocate service. This was designed to help where growers are having 'difficult” conversations with their banks, due to valuation decreases or income effects of cutting out Psa-affected vines.

The actual cost to the kiwifruit industry of Psa-V is the combination of all the individual orchardist's loss of production and additional costs, including pack-house costs, redundancies, the cost of providing grower and industry well-being support, the cost of setting up and running an organisation committed to controlling Psa-V (Kiwifruit Vine Health); and the dramatic reduction in capital values. The personal cost is much more than dollars and cents. It affects whole families and everyone involved in the kiwifruit industry.

Cutting out gold Hort16A, and replacing it with the more Psa-tolerant Gold3, was estimated by the Ministry for Primary Industries to cost $25,100 per hectare. This is based on industry feedback. When the cost of the Zespri licence to grow Gold3 is included, this totals $33,100. My calculation is more than 2000 hectares have been converted to Gold3 at a total cost of about $60 million.

Gold3 will not start producing a crop for two to three years; and each hectare is likely to have less than a full canopy due to Psa. Based on this year's figures across the industry (before on orchard expenses, debt repayment and drawings), a staggering $182 million of income is not coming back to kiwifruit orchardists each year until they can grow a crop.

A study conducted by Lincoln University estimates the kiwifruit industry in the Bay of Plenty region will lose between 360 to 470 full-time equivalent jobs each year between 2012 and 2016. When this loss of jobs in the kiwifruit industry is combined with the loss of income coming into the region, it equates to a very significant and catastrophic economic crisis – not only for the kiwifruit industry, but also for the region itself. Before Psa attacked our vines, the kiwifruit industry generated $2 billion in flow-on revenues in the Bay of Plenty Region and accounted for about 20 per cent of the region's Gross Domestic Product each year.

These costs are significant and have seen a decline across the Bay of Plenty in economic and personal wellbeing. As the industry recovers, economic prosperity will progressively return. However, the financial and personal wellbeing costs from the Psa incursion will never be recovered.

# Mike Chapman is chief executive of NZ Kiwifruit Growers Inc.