Reducing the impact of fruit spoilage diseases on New Zealands fruit export industries

Abstract

Fungal plant pathogens that cause fruit spoilage affect New Zealands fruit industries through direct losses disease control costs and market uncertainty costs Market access costs also occur related to the use of certain agrochemicals and to perceived biosecurity risks from the presence of specifi c organisms on exported fruit A small number of pathogens cause a diverse range of diseases affecting many different fruit crops Fruit rot diseases are often difficult to control difficult to understand and difficult to predict Recurring research issues include unclear taxonomy and cryptic fungal life cycles Determining when infection occurs and what factors affect it is difficult because infections that establish during fruit development often remain symptomless until ripening occurs Lessening the impact of these diseases requires an ongoing specialist research capability working in conjunction with industry partners and supported by consistent levels of funding