Month: September 2015

Kevin de Cozar French agriculture student Kévin de Cozar was looking for work experience in tropical crop protection when he came to North Queensland. Unexpectedly, he got an insight into one of Australia’s biggest crop-protection issues, Panama TR4. Kévin answers our Life Science questions. Kévin, why did you…

Lightning strikes frequently hit banana plants in North Queensland causing leaf damage that looks similar to TR4 symptoms. Growers are urged to report all suspect plants and not assume electrical storms are the cause of damage. Visiting Montpellier SupAgro University student Kévin de Cozar reports. After an electrical…

Mena Creek organic banana grower Matt Abbott will look at opportunities for niche banana exports as part of a scholarship awarded in September. Matt is the banana industry’s 2016 Nuffield Scholar and will study marketing and category diversification, including the possibilities for branding and export markets for organic bananas. He…

Two of Australia’s biggest banana growers, the MacKays and Howes, have trialed a new insecticide developed to control weevil borer and rust thrips while avoiding mite flare-ups. Bayer in August registered the stem-injectable product, Movento Energy, for use in bananas after seven years of development. It follows on from the company’s Bayer’s Confidor…

On tour: Lindsay Rural’s Shane O’Flanagan (far left) with Tully’s Stephen Lowe, Bananot Hahof’s Hanan Ben Shalom and Uri Shpatz, Haifa Australia’s Peter Anderson, Lakelands grower Martin Garate and Shayne Cini of Innisfail. An Israeli agricultural biotechnology company is considering two Australian field trials of tissue-cultured…

Banana farm worker Phyllis Gibson and grandson Dwayne Bowen at the Hope Vale Banana Farm after Cyclone Ita.Some distorted bunches emerged following Tropical Cyclone Nathan.Hope Vale Banana Farm General Manager Ken Reid with a bunch that emerged a few weeks after Tropical Cyclone Nathan. Disaster…

  By Stephanie Dale Almost a year after Banana Industry Development Officer (IDO) Matt Weinert set out to help reinvigorate the subtropical banana industry in New South Wales he couldn’t be happier with the reception from local growers. And he doesn’t just mean the wonderful curries, pastas and bacon ‘n egg brekkies…