The Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister David Carter says its highly unlikely the kiwifruit disease PSA can be eradicted from New Zealand.
Three orchards were on Friday confirmed with the bacterial vine infection and three more were in quarantine.
Mr Carter says more than 100 orchards around the country are reporting symptoms of the disease, and while the outbreak is confined to Te Puke at this stage, eradicating it looks increasingly difficult.
"It is a very difficult disease to eradicate or to contain because it is an airborne bacterium. It is not like a beetle, it can't simply be sprayed, it's also waterborne and is transmitted by equipment and people."
Mr Carter says industry leaders have asked him to hold off deciding what course of action to take until test results of more than 70 orchards are known.
Earlier on Friday afternoon, Mr Carter told a meeting in Mt Maunganui of Maori growers that they will have to use hygienic practices on their orchards and may have to tell family members to keep away from their properties to stop the disease spreading.
The hundreds of Maori kiwifruit growers in the region are a significant employer of local Maori.
Before the meeting, Te Awanui Huka Pak cooperative chief executive Hemi Rolleston says many orchards are in multiple ownership, and beneficiaries will not now be able to walk on kiwifruit land to collect watercress, or access waterways.
Kiwifruit exports uninterrupted
A Zespri executive says international markets have voiced no concerns about New Zealand's kiwifruit supply, despite the outbreak of PSA.
The United States and Australia have banned imports of nursery plants and cuttings, but Zespri director of corporate and grower services Carol Ward says no country has threatened to ban imports of the fruit, or requested to take kiwifruit only from regions unaffected by the disease.
Ms Ward says the industry is now closing down for the season and the last exports are due to leave next week.
Spraying with a copper solution started on Thursday to stem the spread of the disease in the worst affected orchard.
Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated president Peter Ombler told Morning Report that many of the properties whose growers have identified potentially diseased vines are likey to test negative for the bacteria in the end.
Nelson orchardists to increase hygiene measures
Nelson kiwifruit growers will step up measures to try to protect their vines from the disease.
About 50 growers from New Zealand's southernmost commercial growing region met in Motueka on Friday to be updated on on progress in curbing the disease's spread.
Mainland Kiwifruit Growers chairman Rod Fry says checks of 140 orchards in that region areas have found some spotted leaves, but no suspicion of PSA so far.
Hygiene measures will be increased, including disinfecting footwear and equipment and putting 'keep out' signs on orchard gates.
Industry leaders meet
Members of the Industry Advisory Council, which represents growers, packers and exporters, met on Thursday night in Mount Maunganui.
Council member Alistair Hawkey says the meeting was important for sorting out what information is still missing in dealing with the disease, and the council expects to have all the facts by early next week.
Growers in Northland have also met representatives of marketing company Zespri to discuss the disease, though Kerikeri grower Kerry Farrand says there is no trace of PSA on any orchard in the region he has heard about.
