▲Leo Whittle
Leo Whittle in his kiwi orchard in Te Puke, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island.Leo Whittle在新西兰北岛东海岸的Te Puke的猕猴桃园里。
TE PUKE, NEW ZEALAND — Traffic heading east into this small town in northern New Zealand is greeted by a monolithic, circular slice of kiwi — one side bright green, the other golden yellow — a monument to the heart of the local economy.
▲Training on Pollination Techniques for Kiwi Orchard
Visitors can climb to a viewing platform inside the icon and look down at the verdant canopy of a kiwi orchard. But in the past few days, the orchard has been surrounded by a jarring addition: red-and-white tape that carries a warning, “Danger — keep out.”
新西兰特普克——向东驶入新西兰北部这个小镇的车辆会看到一片巨大的圆形猕猴桃——一边是亮绿色，另一边是金黄色——这是当地经济核心的纪念碑。
游客可以爬上标志内的观景台，俯瞰猕猴桃园郁郁葱葱的树冠。但在过去的几天里，果园周围又增加了一个刺耳的东西：红白相间的胶带，上面写着警告：“危险——请勿靠近。”
▲kiwi blossoms that have completed pollination
At ground level, a typed notice warns people not to enter the orchard since the discovery of a destructive canker, found in New Zealand for the first time last Monday. What the notice does not say is that pseudomonas syringae pv actinidae, usually known as PSA, has the country’s kiwi industry, worth 1.5 billion New Zealand dollars, or $1.2 billion, in a crisis mode.
在地面，一份打印的通知警告人们不要进入果园，因为上周一在新西兰首次发现了一种破坏性的溃疡病。通知没有说明的是，丁香假单胞菌（pseudomonas syringae pv actinidae），通常被称为PSA，使该国价值15亿新西兰元（约合12亿美元）的猕猴桃产业处于危机状态。
▲Kiwi electric pollination machine using lithium batteries
The bacterial disease was first discovered in Japan 25 years ago and has four known strains with varying levels of virulence. Growers were awaiting test results on Sunday to find out which strain they were dealing with.
One thing they do know: The golden variety of the fruit, introduced 10 years ago and trademarked by Zespri International, the New Zealand grower-owned kiwi-marketing company, has proved to be especially susceptible.
这种细菌性疾病于25年前在日本首次发现，目前已知有四种毒力不同的菌株。种植者们周日正在等待测试结果，以确定他们正在处理的是哪种菌株。
他们确实知道一件事：10年前推出的这种黄金品种的猕猴桃，由新西兰种植者所有的猕猴桃营销公司Zespri International注册商标，已被证明特别容易感染。
▲Harvest Sunshine Golden Fruit Kiwi Orchard
New Zealand officials have urged the public to stay away from kiwi orchards to avoid transferring the disease, which can be spread by humans and other agents, including animals, rain splashes and pollen.
PSA affects the vine, not the fruit, which is safe for consumers, and its effects on vines vary, depending on the strain and the local climate.
In Italy, damages to recent harvests have been estimated at about €2 million, or $2.7 million.
新西兰官员敦促公众远离猕猴桃园，以避免传播这种疾病，这种疾病可以通过人类和其他媒介传播，包括动物、雨水飞溅和花粉。
PSA影响葡萄藤，而不是水果，这对消费者来说是安全的，它对葡萄藤的影响因品种和当地气候而异。
在意大利，最近收成的损失估计约为200万欧元，约合270万美元。
▲Collect kiwi blossoms
In Te Puke, a town of about 7,000 residents that calls itself the “kiwi fruit capital of the world,” 11 orchards had been quarantined by Sunday evening, and there were eight confirmed cases of PSA.
Many local people who rely on the orchard industry for their livelihoods are concerned.
“My whole life earnings is tied up in this property and this is my sole source of income,” said Leo Whittle, a 68-year-old grower who has been tending the same orchard since 1985. “So I would hate to lose everything I’ve spent a lifetime building, I suppose.
在自称“世界猕猴桃之都”的特普克，一个拥有约7000名居民的小镇，截至周日晚上，已有11个果园被隔离，8例PSA确诊病例。
许多依赖果园业为生的当地人对此表示担忧。
“我一生的收入都与这处房产息息相关，这是我唯一的收入来源，”68岁的种植者Leo Whittle说，他自1985年以来一直在照料同一个果园。“所以我不想失去我花了一辈子建造的一切，我想。
▲New Zealand Rubyred Kiwi
“But we’re nowhere near that stage, and I’d rather we didn’t talk that way.”
Mr. Whittle’s orchard in Te Puke is on the Bay of Plenty, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. The surrounding region contains about 77 percent of the country’s kiwi orchards.
The familiar motif of the furry fruit is found throughout the township. Cartoon kiwis with wheels present billboard safety messages to drivers. There is an annual kiwi festival that culminates in the crowning of a kiwi queen. And when a new church started in the area five years ago, it was named The Orchard.
▲Bees pollinate kiwifruit
“但我们离那个阶段还很远，我宁愿我们不要那样说话。”
惠特尔先生在特普克的果园位于新西兰北岛东海岸的丰盛湾。周边地区拥有该国约77%的猕猴桃园。
这个熟悉的毛茸茸的水果图案在整个城镇都有。带有轮子的卡通几维鸟向司机展示了广告牌上的安全信息。每年都有一个猕猴桃节，以猕猴桃女王加冕为高潮。五年前，当一座新教堂在该地区成立时，它被命名为果园。
▲Bee pollination
“Care and nurturing,” said Des Langdon, one of the church elders. “That’s part of a church. That’s what needs to go in an orchard.”
Mr. Langdon said the kiwi fruit formed a big part of Te Puke’s “psyche.” He believed the orchard metaphor was a perfect fit for the congregation.
“Everybody understands what has to happen in an orchard to make it work, and so that same principle is carried through,” Mr. Langdon said.
▲贵州高山猕猴桃种植喜获丰收
教会长老之一德斯·兰登说：“关心和养育。”。“这是教堂的一部分。这就是果园里需要的东西。”
兰登先生说，猕猴桃是特普克“心灵”的重要组成部分。他认为果园的比喻非常适合会众。
兰登先生说：“每个人都知道在果园里必须发生什么才能让它发挥作用，所以同样的原则也得到了贯彻。”。
▲New Zealand's newly built Sunshine Golden Fruit Orchard
In Te Puke, the talk is that PSA was carried into New Zealand in imported pollen, which is manually applied in many orchards because it is cheaper than pollen purchased in the country. But government experts have emphasized that the origin is still unknown and that the disease may have been in the country, undetected, for years.
在特普克，人们谈论的是PSA是通过进口花粉带入新西兰的，许多果园都是人工施用的，因为它比在该国购买的花粉便宜。但政府专家强调，病因尚不清楚，这种疾病可能已经在该国存在多年，未被发现。
▲packaging kiwipollen
Mr. Whittle did not put much stock in local speculation and said his experience gave him confidence that the industry could survive.
He grew kiwi throughout a price crash caused by oversupply in the 1980s, threats of litigation from Italian retailers in the 1990s and various diseases and infections over the years. Sitting in his conservatory, looking out at rows of certified-organic kiwi fruit vines, he said that many people were concerned about PSA, and he “would be one, in due course, if it did prove to be a real big problem.”
惠特尔并不看好当地的投机活动，他说自己的经历让他相信该行业能够生存下去。
20世纪80年代，由于供应过剩、20世纪90年代意大利零售商的诉讼威胁以及多年来的各种疾病和感染，导致价格暴跌，他一直在种植猕猴桃。坐在温室里，看着一排排经过认证的有机猕猴桃藤，他说很多人都担心PSA，他“如果PSA真的成为一个大问题，他会在适当的时候成为其中之一。”
▲A kiwi orchard with abundant fruits
Like those of two-thirds of New Zealand kiwi growers, Mr. Whittle’s orchard is smaller than five hectares, or about 12 acres. His vines cover four and a half hectares. He and his wife chose to grow only the green variety — known as Hayward’s cultivar — because they liked the taste more than that of the gold fruit.
While Mr. Whittle acknowledged there was a lot at stake, he worried that sensationalizing the issue could lead export markets to believe, mistakenly, that New Zealand fruit was tainted: “We don’t want to destroy that wonderful image that we have out there.”
▲Kiwi Pollination
与新西兰三分之二的猕猴桃种植者一样，惠特尔先生的果园不到5公顷，约12英亩。他的葡萄园占地四公顷半。他和妻子选择只种植被称为海沃德品种的绿色品种，因为他们更喜欢它的味道，而不是金果的味道。
虽然惠特尔承认有很多利害关系，但他担心耸人听闻的问题可能会导致出口市场错误地认为新西兰水果受到了污染：“我们不想破坏我们在那里的美好形象。”
▲猕猴桃花粉加工
Indeed, the image of the kiwifruit has become a familiar cultural icon in New Zealand, appearing on stamps and souvenirs, even though it is not a native plant. The New Zealand fruit-packing company Turners & Growers started using the name "kiwifruit" in 1959. The word "kiwi" originally comes from a species of flightless bird that is native to New Zealand. It evokes a sense of national identity, as New Zealanders are colloquially known at home and abroad as Kiwis.
事实上，猕猴桃的形象已经成为新西兰熟悉的文化标志，出现在邮票和纪念品上，尽管它不是本土植物。新西兰水果包装公司Turners&Growers于1959年开始使用“猕猴桃”这个名字。“几维鸟”这个词最初来自新西兰本土的一种不会飞的鸟。它唤起了一种民族认同感，因为新西兰人在国内外都被通俗地称为新西兰人。
▲Kiwi Fruit Pollination
The first seeds were carried to New Zealand from China by a schoolteacher in 1904. Initially known as the Chinese gooseberry, the fruit was reported to have grown in popularity after finding favor with visiting U.S. troops during World War II.
In 1952, Te Puke sent out the country’s first exports. Since then, the fruit has grown to become the country’s highest-earning horticultural crop, accounting for almost a third of horticultural export earnings.
▲picking kiwi flowers
In 2009, New Zealand exported 378 million kilograms, or about 415,000 tons, of the fruit, worth 1.07 billion dollars.
1904年，一位教师将第一批种子从中国运往新西兰。最初被称为中国醋栗，据报道，这种水果在第二次世界大战期间受到来访的美国军队的青睐后越来越受欢迎。
1952年，特普克出口了该国的第一批产品。从那时起，这种水果已经成为该国收入最高的园艺作物，几乎占园艺出口收入的三分之一。
2009年，新西兰出口了3.78亿公斤，约合41.5万吨水果，价值10.7亿美元。
▲Abundant Red Heart Kiwi Orchard
The country is the world’s second-biggest producer of kiwi, behind Italy, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, an arm of the United Nations. New Zealand also has significant interests in the Italian industry; Zespri International licenses growers in Italy to produce its golden fruit to ensure year-round supplies. The company said more than half its Italian vines had been affected by PSA in recent seasons.
Now the disease threatens to damage the New Zealand industry just as the national economy has started to recover, albeit slowly, from the global downturn. It grew by 0.2 percent in the quarter that ended last June.
▲New Zealand's newly built Sunshine Golden Fruit Orchard
根据联合国下属的粮食及农业组织的数据，该国是仅次于意大利的世界第二大猕猴桃生产国。新西兰对意大利工业也有重大利益；Zespri International授权意大利种植者生产其金果，以确保全年供应。该公司表示，近几个季度，其一半以上的意大利葡萄藤受到了PSA的影响。
现在，就在国民经济开始从全球经济衰退中缓慢复苏之际，这种疾病有可能损害新西兰的工业。在截至去年6月的季度中，它增长了0.2%。
本月，政府宣布7月至9月季度的失业率下降了0.5个百分点，至6.4%。猕猴桃产业雇佣了2万多人，任何中断都可能导致更多人失业。
但该行业过去对问题反应迅速。
▲准备开始加工猕猴桃花粉的鲜花
This month, the government announced the unemployment rate had fallen by half a percentage point to 6.4 percent in the July-to-September quarter. The kiwi industry employs more than 20,000 people, and any disruption could put more people out of work.
But the industry has reacted swiftly to problems in the past.
In the early 1990s, after Italian retailers threatened legal action over pesticide residue on New Zealand kiwi fruit, a new set of quality standards was implemented, and by 1997 every export grower had complied.
In 1994 and 1995, orchards were hit with Botrytis cinerea, a fungal disease that caused 31.5 million dollars in damages. A number of changes to growing and storage processes were established, cutting infection levels to a negligible level.
20世纪90年代初，在意大利零售商威胁对新西兰猕猴桃的农药残留采取法律行动后，实施了一套新的质量标准，到1997年，每个出口种植者都遵守了这些标准。
1994年和1995年，果园感染了灰霉病，这是一种真菌疾病，造成了3150万美元的损失。对生长和储存过程进行了一系列更改，将感染水平降至可以忽略不计的水平。
▲近年采开始在国内使用的大型电动猕猴桃授粉设备
New Zealand has tight border controls and issues stiff penalties for any infringements. The opposition Labor Party has used the discovery of PSA to point to a government decision to cut 54 bio-security jobs in 2009, an action that Mr. Whittle said he remembered with frustration.
新西兰有严格的边境管制，对任何违规行为都会处以严厉的惩罚。反对党工党利用PSA的发现指出，政府决定在2009年削减54个生物安全工作岗位，惠特尔先生说，他沮丧地记得这一行动。
▲猕猴桃雄花
“I was disappointed to see the numbers reduced,” he said.
“I challenged my local M.P. about that,” he said referring to the local member of Parliament. “And I still think we should have been going the other way, not this way.
“Maybe something like this may alert the politicians to the seriousness of this sort of thing, and maybe they will have another think about that. I’d like to think so, anyway.”
他说：“看到人数减少，我很失望。”。
“我向当地议员提出了质疑，”他指的是当地议员。“我仍然认为我们应该走另一条路，而不是这条路。
“也许这样的事情会让政客们意识到这类事情的严重性，也许他们会重新考虑一下。不管怎样，我还是这么想的。”
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