As mentioned at the latest SummerGreen events, good levels of hygiene are important for good crop health and are also a cornerstone of good biosecurity practice. In a perfect world, each orchard would treat the boundaries of their own land with the same meticulous care as we treat the New Zealand border.
The primary New Zealand legislation governing pests and diseases is the Biosecurity Act (1993), which focuses mainly on preventing incursions at our national borders. This is supported by the Government Industry Agreement for Biosecurity Readiness and Response (GIA). This agreement helps government and industry work together to make decisions about preparing for any harmful organisms that do enter, and the necessary responses. However, there are no regulations specifically governing how to keep individual farms and growing areas within the country safe from pests and diseases day-to-day.
Orchard boundaries allow for controllable zones in which quarantine controls can be put in place in the event of an incursion. However, this strategy is only effective if stringent hygiene processes are a part of everyday practices, between each zone before the invasive pest arrives.
Where covered crops benefit from containment in artificially controlled ecosystems, orchards face additional challenges of environmental factors such as wind, rain, and the movement of people and equipment, all of which can spread pests and diseases.
Despite these differences, the commitment to maintaining high hygiene standards is the basis that ensures the health and productivity of orchard growing systems.
Biosecurity hygiene will prevent the introduction and spread of pests and diseases among crops. One of the biggest risks to your orchard is people. Seasonal pickers and contractors carry an added risk of bringing things into your orchard, as well as the use of equipment such as pruning tools, irrigation systems, tractors, harvesting tools and footwear, which can all be vectors for spreading pests and diseases. Cleaning these items after each use and sanitising in an effective solution destroys pests and microscopic pathogens, creating a barrier to unwanted spread.
There are plenty of examples of good biosecurity practices throughout the country. New Zealanders are familiar with washing their footwear when travelling between kauri forests to prevent kauri dieback disease. The same principles can be adopted on orchard.
After working in your orchard, all organic material should be removed, and footwear should be disinfected with an appropriate chemical to kill microorganisms. This practice helps contain potential spread, especially if growers are unaware of existing pathogens. Best biosecurity practice involves treating each farm block (or greenhouse) as an individual boundary with its own border practices. If possible, each zone should have spare sets of boots and equipment to help contain any potential spread of pathogens.
Having a boot wash pad at the beginning of an orchard block in harvest season, having signage and ensuring that every person on site is aware of their biosecurity requirements will protect your orchard from the unwanted and unknown risks, as well as from the pests and disease already here.
Biosecurity is a collective responsibility. Let’s work together to keep our orchards healthy and thriving.