Tests of kiwifruit plant material have confirmed another orchard outside the immediate Te Puke area, has the virulent strain of the PSA disease.
Some 248 orchards have been identified as having the disease, since it was discovered on a block of gold kiwifruit near Te Puke last November.
Kiwifruit Vine Health extended its Te Puke priority zone to include the Paengaroa area, to the east of the town.
Meanwhile, the agency says contracts have been completed to financially compensate growers, who have had to cut out a total of 135 hectares of infected vines.
KVH general manager John Burke says the final payout will be almost $18 million.
At this stage, he says it looks as though about half of a $50 million fund from the industry and the Government, will be left after all the costs associated with compensation, spray subsidies, research projects and KVH are added together.
