Funding boost to help meet ‘spray-free’ target

New Zealand’s apple industry is working towards becoming spray-free by 2050, a move it hopes will allow it to hold on to highvalue export markets.

The apple industry has received $15 million in funding to work towards the goal.

Rachel Kilmister, research and development programme manager at NZ Apple and Pears, said the group had received government backing for a sevenyear research programme to work towards sustainable production practices.

The programme would aim to reduce agrichemical use by employing targeted and smart technologies, such as remote sensing, to detect pests.

It would also use new apple varieties that were more resistant to pest and disease.

The industry also aimed to reduce its carbon footprint.

Using new apple varieties from research company Prevar that were resistant to pests would be critical to achieve a sprayfree status, Kilmister said.

Prevar variety apples were bred by traditional methods by selecting from existing germ plasm that were resistant to pest and disease. The apples were not genetically modified, she said.

‘‘To help fast-track selection, research is done to understand which apple and pear genes provide resistance to pests and diseases of concern. Germ plasm are screened for these genes.

‘‘New varieties are screened in the field over many years for hardiness, performance, and pest and disease resistance before being selected for commercialisation,’’ Kilmister said.

Alternatives to spraying included the use of lures with insect pheromones that disrupted mating, lures using pheromones to attract and kill pests, the release of sterile pest insects to break the pest cycle, and cultural control that changed the pest or disease’s natural environment, Kilmister said.

Moves towards becoming spray-free would be incremental, starting with a reduction in the amount and frequency of chemicals applied.

This could be done by using technology for more precise spray application.

Variable rate spray technology was one option. Technologies for early pest and disease detection would allow early intervention before it became a problem, Kilmister said.

Another option to reduce spraying was manual and automated removal by cutting or spot spraying of an infestation, she said.

The reduction in fuel use from fewer spraying tractor hours would be the primary way of reducing the carbon footprint of the industry.

The programme aimed to reduce pesticide application by 50% by 2030.

Achieving a spray-free status by 2050 would reduce the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by 35%.

Earlier, the group’s chief executive, Terry Meikle, estimated the programme would protect $1.1 billion of forecast revenue between 2023 and 2030, by protecting existing high-value market share.

The $14.9 million project was the largest the industry had embarked on to date.

The Ministry for Primary Industries and the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures Fund funded $7.4m. The balance was funded by the industry, he said.