Author: Amy Spear

If you’re keen to take your business to the next level and see an exciting future in the banana industry, the LEAD program could be right up your alley. Designed to promote Leadership, Exploration and Development (LEAD) in horticulture, the project is backed by a Federal Government grant and involves a…

Industry Development Officer Matt Weinert explains how his new extension project will benefit subtropical banana growers.  Matt Weinert wants to rifle through your reject bin. Yes, literally! Banana Industry Development Officer with the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), Mr Weinert is keen to get a better understanding of why growers…

By Stewart Lindsay The banana industry’s new national plant protection program is progressing well with field trials, farm surveys and IPM priority setting workshops underway or completed. The plant protection program is the largest research and development investment made by the Australian banana industry and coordinates a project team of over…

By Rosie Godwin & Stewart Lindsay In early February this year, Dr Chih-Ping Chao (Director) and Dr Gus Molina (consultant) from the Taiwanese Banana Research Institute (TBRI) met with a delegation from the Australian banana industry in north Queensland. The aim of the visit was to discuss opportunities for research…

By Tony Pattison  The Fusarium wilt Tropical Race 4 Research Program (BA14014) is investigating mid and long term strategies to manage Fusarium wilt (Panama disease) through improved banana cultivars, development of resilient production systems and developing better tools for on-farm biosecurity. The development of banana cultivars with improved resistance to TR4 is…

Nestled among rolling green hills, ocean views and million dollar homes is a patch of bananas that could hold the future of the Australian subtropical industry. The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Duranbah trial site in northern New South Wales is one of a number around the country currently trialling…

In research labs and trial sites around the world, the search for a commercially viable banana variety resistant to Panama TR4 edges closer every day.  As a variety screening trial for TR4 resistance in the Northern Territory draws to a close, the latest results from the program have been promising, including…