Year: 2020

By Tony Pattison, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), South JohnstoneBACKGROUNDPanama disease Tropical Race 4 (TR4) was first found in the Tully valley in March 2015.The unknowns surrounding this discovery left banana growers and the future of the Australian banana industry in a precarious position.…

ABGC director and 2013 Nuffield Scholar Paul Inderbitzin For Lakeland banana grower Paul Inderbitzin winning a Nuffield Scholarship was life-changing. The current Australian Banana Growers’ Council director used the scholarship, supported by Horticulture Innovation Australia and the Banana Levy, to study fruit quality, biosecurity and waste…

By Lea Coghlan When Mike McGrath tasted a frozen chocolate banana at a school fete in Mission Beach several years ago, it was a holy grail moment. “It was amazing,” Mr McGrath recalled. “It was an average home-made version, but I remember thinking … I have found a…

Fourth generation farmer Shayne Cini on the bank of the South Johnstone River which runs beside his banana farm at Wangan. By Lea Coghlan Just like farming, looking after the environment runs through Shayne Cini’s veins. Together with wife Blaise and daughters Kari and Eden, the fourth-generation…

Earlier this year the Banana Strategic Agrochemical Review Process (SARP) was conducted through desktop audit and industry liaison to: • Assess the importance of the diseases, insects and weeds that can affect each industry • Evaluate the availability and effectiveness of fungicides, insecticides and herbicides (pesticides) in…

Lakeland is a step closer to realising longterm water security with the Queensland Government making the first milestone payment towards the Lakeland Irrigation Area Business Case. In June, the Government paid the $10 million for the detailed business case for a new dam on the Palmer…