Dear Growers

The ABGC would like to advise that a new detection of Panama TR4 has been found on a banana farm in the Tully Valley. 

Biosecurity Queensland (BQ) today notified that samples taken from suspect plants had returned positive PCR results.

As these are the first plants taken from the property to return a positive diagnosis, additional testing will be completed to provide further confidence in these initial results.  This testing will likely take several weeks. 

The suspect plants were discovered on the property of S Lowe and Sons, during routine surveillance by BQ. 

As most growers will be aware, the farm is in close proximity to the five other farms confirmed with TR4 in the Tully Valley since 2015.

ABGC will continue to keep growers updated on any further developments. First and foremost, our focus is on the Lowe family and their workforce as they wait for further testing results.

However, we also understand this will be devastating news for all of industry, particularly in the current unprecedented times.

The ABGC and BQ agree that the new detection reinforces the need for growers to adopt and maintain robust biosecurity measures, for the protection of their farms and wider banana industry.