Apple growers in New Zealand are hoping insurance will come to the rescue after their crop was destroyed by a faulty crop spray.

Almost 185 hectares of apple orchards in Nelson and Hawke’s Bay have been partially destroyed – this is 1.8% of the total apples grown annually in New Zealand, a report from Newshub said.

The report said the spray, Mancozeb, contained Azoxystrobin – a damaging crop fungicide. It was recalled by Adama New Zealand when a grower in Hawke’s Bay found blemishes on some of its apples. 

“This is not a product we manufacture ourselves,” Adama NZ CEO David MacGibbon told Newshub. “Mancozeb has been a widely used product in spring for apple growers since we started selling it 10 years ago.”

MacGibbon said they will no longer be selling the product.


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