▲Leo Whittle
Leo Whittle in his kiwi orchard in Te Puke, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island.Leo Whittle在新西蘭北島東海岸的Te Puke的獼猴桃園里。
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.”
新西蘭特普克——向東駛入新西蘭北部這個小鎮(zhèn)的車輛會看到一片巨大的圓形獼猴桃——一邊是亮綠色，另一邊是金黃色——這是當?shù)亟洕诵牡募o念碑。
游客可以爬上標志內的觀景臺，俯瞰獼猴桃園郁郁蔥蔥的樹冠。但在過去的幾天里，果園周圍又增加了一個刺耳的東西：紅白相間的膠帶，上面寫著警告：“危險——請勿靠近。”
▲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們不要進入果園，因為上周一在新西蘭首次發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種破壞性的潰瘍病。通知沒有說明的是，丁香假單胞菌（pseudomonas syringae pv actinidae），通常被稱為PSA，使該國價值15億新西蘭元（約合12億美元）的獼猴桃產業(yè)處于危機狀態(tài)。
▲testing pollen
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.
這種細菌性疾病于25年前在日本首次發(fā)現(xiàn)，目前已知有四種毒力不同的菌株。種植者們周日正在等待測試結果，以確定他們正在處理的是哪種菌株。
他們確實知道一件事：10年前推出的這種黃金品種的獼猴桃，由新西蘭種植者所有的獼猴桃營銷公司Zespri International注冊商標，已被證明特別容易感染。
▲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.
新西蘭官員敦促公眾遠離獼猴桃園，以避免傳播這種疾病，這種疾病可以通過人類和其他媒介傳播，包括動物、雨水飛濺和花粉。
PSA影響葡萄藤，而不是水果，這對消費者來說是安全的，它對葡萄藤的影響因品種和當?shù)貧夂蚨悺?br />
在意大利，最近收成的損失估計約為200萬歐元，約合270萬美元。
▲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.
在自稱“世界獼猴桃之都”的特普克，一個擁有約7000名居民的小鎮(zhèn)，截至周日晚上，已有11個果園被隔離，8例PSA確診病例。
許多依賴果園業(yè)為生的當?shù)厝藢Υ吮硎緭鷳n。
“我一生的收入都與這處房產息息相關，這是我唯一的收入來源，”68歲的種植者Leo Whittle說，他自1985年以來一直在照料同一個果園?！八晕也幌胧ノ一艘惠呑咏ㄔ斓囊磺校蚁?。
▲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
“但我們離那個階段還很遠，我寧愿我們不要那樣說話?！?br />
惠特爾先生在特普克的果園位于新西蘭北島東海岸的豐盛灣。周邊地區(qū)擁有該國約77%的獼猴桃園。
這個熟悉的毛茸茸的水果圖案在整個城鎮(zhèn)都有。帶有輪子的卡通幾維鳥向司機展示了廣告牌上的安全信息。每年都有一個獼猴桃節(jié)，以獼猴桃女王加冕為高潮。五年前，當一座新教堂在該地區(qū)成立時，它被命名為果園。
▲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.
▲Harvest Sunshine Golden Fruit Kiwi Orchard
教會長老之一德斯·蘭登說：“關心和養(yǎng)育。”?！斑@是教堂的一部分。這就是果園里需要的東西。”
蘭登先生說，獼猴桃是特普克“心靈”的重要組成部分。他認為果園的比喻非常適合會眾。
蘭登先生說：“每個人都知道在果園里必須發(fā)生什么才能讓它發(fā)揮作用，所以同樣的原則也得到了貫徹。”。
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，人們談論的是PSA是通過進口花粉帶入新西蘭的，許多果園都是人工施用的，因為它比在該國購買的花粉便宜。但政府專家強調，病因尚不清楚，這種疾病可能已經在該國存在多年，未被發(fā)現(xiàn)。
▲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.”
惠特爾并不看好當?shù)氐耐稒C活動，他說自己的經歷讓他相信該行業(yè)能夠生存下去。
20世紀80年代，由于供應過剩、20世紀90年代意大利零售商的訴訟威脅以及多年來的各種疾病和感染，導致價格暴跌，他一直在種植獼猴桃。坐在溫室里，看著一排排經過認證的有機獼猴桃藤，他說很多人都擔心PSA，他“如果PSA真的成為一個大問題，他會在適當?shù)臅r候成為其中之一?！?/p>
▲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
與新西蘭三分之二的獼猴桃種植者一樣，惠特爾先生的果園不到5公頃，約12英畝。他的葡萄園占地四公頃半。他和妻子選擇只種植被稱為海沃德品種的綠色品種，因為他們更喜歡它的味道，而不是金果的味道。
雖然惠特爾承認有很多利害關系，但他擔心聳人聽聞的問題可能會導致出口市場錯誤地認為新西蘭水果受到了污染：“我們不想破壞我們在那里的美好形象?！?/p>
▲獼猴桃花粉加工
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.
事實上，獼猴桃的形象已經成為新西蘭熟悉的文化標志，出現(xiàn)在郵票和紀念品上，盡管它不是本土植物。新西蘭水果包裝公司Turners&Growers于1959年開始使用“獼猴桃”這個名字。“幾維鳥”這個詞最初來自新西蘭本土的一種不會飛的鳥。它喚起了一種民族認同感，因為新西蘭人在國內外都被通俗地稱為新西蘭人。
▲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，一位教師將第一批種子從中國運往新西蘭。最初被稱為中國醋栗，據(jù)報道，這種水果在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間受到來訪的美國軍隊的青睞后越來越受歡迎。
1952年，特普克出口了該國的第一批產品。從那時起，這種水果已經成為該國收入最高的園藝作物，幾乎占園藝出口收入的三分之一。
2009年，新西蘭出口了3.78億公斤，約合41.5萬噸水果，價值10.7億美元。
▲Kiwi pollination
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.
根據(jù)聯(lián)合國下屬的糧食及農業(yè)組織的數(shù)據(jù)，該國是僅次于意大利的世界第二大獼猴桃生產國。新西蘭對意大利工業(yè)也有重大利益；Zespri International授權意大利種植者生產其金果，以確保全年供應。該公司表示，近幾個季度，其一半以上的意大利葡萄藤受到了PSA的影響。
現(xiàn)在，就在國民經濟開始從全球經濟衰退中緩慢復蘇之際，這種疾病有可能損害新西蘭的工業(yè)。在截至去年6月的季度中，它增長了0.2%。
本月，政府宣布7月至9月季度的失業(yè)率下降了0.5個百分點，至6.4%。獼猴桃產業(yè)雇傭了2萬多人，任何中斷都可能導致更多人失業(yè)。
但該行業(yè)過去對問題反應迅速。
▲準備開始加工獼猴桃花粉的鮮花
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世紀90年代初，在意大利零售商威脅對新西蘭獼猴桃的農藥殘留采取法律行動后，實施了一套新的質量標準，到1997年，每個出口種植者都遵守了這些標準。
1994年和1995年，果園感染了灰霉病，這是一種真菌疾病，造成了3150萬美元的損失。對生長和儲存過程進行了一系列更改，將感染水平降至可以忽略不計的水平。
▲近年采開始在國內使用的大型電動獼猴桃授粉設備
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.
新西蘭有嚴格的邊境管制，對任何違規(guī)行為都會處以嚴厲的懲罰。反對黨工黨利用PSA的發(fā)現(xiàn)指出，政府決定在2009年削減54個生物安全工作崗位，惠特爾先生說，他沮喪地記得這一行動。
▲獼猴桃雄花
“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.”
他說：“看到人數(shù)減少，我很失望。”。
“我向當?shù)刈h員提出了質疑，”他指的是當?shù)刈h員。“我仍然認為我們應該走另一條路，而不是這條路。
“也許這樣的事情會讓政客們意識到這類事情的嚴重性，也許他們會重新考慮一下。不管怎樣，我還是這么想的?！?/p>
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