Hawke’s Bay growers will be aware that the outdoor burning of orchard material is restricted under Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) regulations, relating to the time of the year and weather conditions. If an orchard is within the air sheds of Napier or Hastings, then the restrictions are even tighter.
To investigate alternative options to burning organic material, HBRC commissioned Plant & Food Research (PFR) to research whether pathogens survive in a commercial ‘hot’ composting process. The PFR report suggests that hot composting does break down the pathogens that were tested. This provides another potential disposal option for growers to be aware of.
The PFR document is available on the Summerfruit NZ portal under On Orchard / Plant and Disease Management / Composting Orchard Material