Author: Amy Spear

In October, a group of enthusiastic, young growers took part in a two-day visit to the Northern Territory, as part of a fact-finding Next Gen tour. The tour included a visit to a Panama TR4 trial site and the opportunity to network at the Nuffield Australia National Conference in Darwin. By…

By Tony Pattison, Department of Agriculture & Fisheries, South Johnstone Having soils that can overcome soil borne diseases, like Panama disease of bananas, is a major goal for banana growers. But can soil management, through changes in fertiliser, pesticide and ground cover practices have a big enough impact to reduce the…

By Stewart Lindsay, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries The outbreak of Panama disease TR4 in the North Queensland banana industry in March 2015 has generated a lot of interest among banana growers and marketers about the potential for new banana varieties with desirable pest and disease resistance. While banana varieties…

The banana industry continues to adopt Best Management Practices, with the 2016 Reef Report Card showing 62 per cent of Wet Tropics production land had improved their practice. Released in October, the latest figure was a considerable increase from 56 per cent the previous year. “The results show we’re going in…

New varieties were screened against Fusarium wilt Race 1 in the Australian subtropics and tropics as part of the ‘Banana Plant Protection Program’ project. Here we look at several promising varieties which were identified. By Jeff Daniells, Mike Smith, David Peasley, Wayne O’Neill and Andre Drenth THE DISEASE Fusarium…

The tireless work of North Queensland banana growers Frank and Dianne Sciacca has been acknowledged with the 2017 Prince of Wales Environmental Leadership—Reef  Sustainability Award. The Sciacca’s innovative system is often regarded as ahead of its time, reflected in their recognition at the Reef Alliance Awards ceremony in Townsville. Amy Spear reports.…

NSW banana industry development officer Matt Weinert has just completed his three-year contract, working with the Department of Primary Industry, funded by Hort Innovation. And while Matt’s future remains in NSW within the banana industry, Paula Doran took time to speak to Matt about the highlights of three years thus…