Frozen peas saved from weevil
A weevil that threatened New Zealand’s
$130 million frozen pea industry looks to have been eradicated, after an almost three-year campaign.
No pea weevils were detected in 25 trap pea crops planted this season in Wairarapa, said Federated Farmers arable chairwoman Karen Williams.
‘‘This is great news for growers, who took a big financial hit to eradicate this insect pest from New Zealand.’’
The weevil was first found in Wairarapa in April
2016. While growers in Wairarapa, responsible for about 10 per cent of the industry, grow only seed pea crops, the weevil’s arrival put at risk the big processed (frozen) pea growing regions in Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury, which supply processors Heinz Wattie’s, McCain Foods and Talleys.
New Zealand produces 62,000 tonnes of peas on 8200 hectares, earning $50 million in domestic sales and $84 million in exports.
Process Vegetables New Zealand general manager John Seymour said New Zealand was one of only a few countries free of the weevil before the outbreak. ‘‘We are very relieved that we are now in our second summer as pea weevil pest free.’’
To eradicate the weevils, home gardeners and commercial growers within a Wairarapa zone were banned by the Ministry of Primary Industries from growing peas.
It was hoped this ban could be reversed, at least in part, when the Pea Weevil Governance Group meets at the end of March, Williams said.
Pea weevils ruin crops when their larvae chew their way into peas and spend the summer living in them, leaving a hole through the centre of the pea. By removing their food source, any remaining weevil population dies out.
Two years of ‘‘area freedom’’ was required to assure industry, Government and major trading partners that the pea weevil had been eradicated. Fifteen weevils were found in trap crops at two sites east of Masterton in late 2017, but the rest of the region was clear.