Category: News & Media

The discovery that a diagnosis of Panama Tropical Race 4 (TR4) on a Mareeba banana farm was a “false positive” and the farm was clear of the disease prompted a major review of TR4 diagnostics in Queensland. The independent review by consultancy group Deloitte confirmed…

Two global experts on Panama Tropical Race 4 (TR4) have advised on control measures for North Queensland and warned the upcoming wet season is a danger period. Professor Altus Viljoen, Chairman of Plant Pathology at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and Taiwan Banana…

Losses of Nitrogen continue to be a major environmental issue across agriculture. Can controlled-release fertilisers help banana farmers achieve best-practice targets? By Jeff Daniells, John Armour, Christina Mortimore and Stewart Lindsay   Targets set in the Reef Plan 2050 to improve water quality in the…

Tracing and surveillance work is a priority for the current phase of the TR4 response with a focus on properties found to have links to the first infested property, TR4 Response Program Leader Rebecca Sapuppo said. “The aim of the surveillance program is to detect…

Panama Race 1 isn’t supposed to infect Cavendish banana plants. So why is it killing them in an Indian growing district? Dr Thangavelu (Thanga) Raman and Jeff Daniells report on Race 1 causing widespread disease in Cavendish and research into biological controls. It was in…

After 30 years in banana research, Maroochy-based Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Senior Principal Scientist Sharon Hamill has been part of banana science advances, including in tissue culture. Sharon answers our ten life-science questions. What got you interested in the banana industry? Working in…