A world first -- as New Zealand successfully eradicates the pea weevil

It means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today.

Commercial and home gardeners can again grow pea plants and use pea straw as garden bedding material.

Biosecurity New Zealand has been working with Wairarapa farmers since March 2016 to contain pea weevil -- that threatened to put a major dent in the country's $130 million pea industry.

A network of trap crops was set up to flush out the pest so it could be destroyed before it completed its life cycle.

The last one found was in late 2017.