Kiwifruit buds fall off during flowering period, New Zealand's new production season may be affected

According to RNZ, New Zealand growers produced a record 197 million boxes of kiwifruit in the 2024 season (ending August 2024). The 2025 season is still early in the growing season, so it is impossible to predict the specific output, but for some orchards, the bud volume is not equal to the flowering volume. 80% of New Zealand kiwifruit is grown in the Bay of Plenty in the North Island. Sandy Scarrow, a consultant at Fruition, said this is especially true in the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne. In her 38 years of experience, this is one of the best bud periods that local orchards have ever encountered, but the flowering period has not progressed at all. Scarrow said that some orchards have aborted buds, and the bud volume and flowering volume of the entire industry are very uneven. On average, the situation is good, but there are also some orchards that are not doing well, which is related to the cold wave in September. David, a kiwifruit orchard owner in the Bay of Plenty Jensen said ...