Category: Magazine Articles

By Tony Pattison, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Losses and damage caused by plant-parasitic nematodes, like burrowing nematode, are reoccurring problems on many banana farms. The nematodes feed on the roots of the plants (Fig 1) and can slow plant growth, reduce bunch weights and…

By Tony Pattison, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries  Soils are teaming with life, with up to five tonnes of soil organisms per hectare (e.g. bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and many others). While some species are damaging to plants, causing diseases, many more are beneficial (See…

By Katie Ferro, Jeff Daniells and Ashley Balsom, Queensland DAF The first ratoon crop is now completed in the variety trial at South Johnstone, and the results are encouraging with: • The TBRI Cavendish selection Asia Pacific #3 showing comparable yields and fruit length to Williams…

Information in this article is courtesy of Tom Flanagan / NSW Department of Primary Industries In the Australian banana industry, the word Panama is often used to describe one thing: the devastating Tropical race 4 (TR4). While Far North Queensland, home to 94% of Australian…

NSW COPS A DRENCHINGAt the time of going to print, residents, business owners and producers across New South Wales were still taking in the impact of a ‘one-in-100-year’ flood. As average monthly rainfall totals were smashed, floodwaters swept through claiming property, infrastructure and, in the worst…

Stewart Lindsay, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Banana producers in the Innisfail region severely affected by the cyclonic weather on 1 March will need to manage their crop cycling over the next few months to avoid a concentration of harvest when production returns.Experience with severe cyclone…