Category: Magazine Articles

By Sonia Campbell The number of feral pigs culled from the Tully Valley in the past two years to help reduce the risk of spreading TR4 has surpassed 4300. The major milestone was reached through a co-ordinated eradication program that began in July 2017, involving aerial shooting, as well ground shooting,…

More than 50 people got a taste – literally – of new varieties being trailed at the South Johnstone Research Station in June. Participants in a field walk organised as part of the National Banana Development and Extension Program were intrigued by the variation in the plant crop bunches…

A fruit fly outbreak in Australia’s major banana growing regions could be devastating for the $600m industry. The most damaging pest affecting horticulture more broadly, fruit flies have a wide variety of hosts, spread rapidly and have severe, ongoing impacts on both production and industry reputation. In 1995, Oriental fruit fly…

Ponchos and umbrellas were in high demand as growers from Coffs Harbour and the Northern Rivers gathered for an update on varieties at the Duranbah Trial Site. Even heavy showers and gusty winds didn’t deter their interest, as Industry Development Officer Matt Weinert and block manager Zac McKeever…

Stephen Lowe, Chair Reef regs Impractical and costly provisions within proposed new Reef Regulations continue to be a focus for ABGC and industry at large. At the board meeting on June 20, directors and senior ABGC staff met with three senior representatives from the Department of Environment and Science (DES) to discuss serious grower…

Jim Pekin, CEO Colombia TR4 At the time of writing this column (July 23), there were reports of a suspected case of Panama tropical race 4 (TR4), detected in Colombia. If this is confirmed, it will be Latin America’s first TR4 detection and a bitter blow for the Colombian industry, which is one of…

Maintaining full ground cover is an important goal for organic banana farmers Matt and Ben Abbott. A high quality ground cover is a crucial component in reducing both nutrient and sediment loss from their farms. In 2017, the brothers were successful in securing a grant from the Reef Trust III…