Quarantined farms send out first shipments of bananas

Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Bill Byrne has today welcomed news of the first truckloads of bananas to leave two farms at Tully and Mareeba, which are under quarantine for Panama disease tropical race 4.

“At the start of this week, harvesting at these two farms resumed under strict interim arrangements developed by Biosecurity Queensland in consultation with the growers and industry,” the Minister said.

"I am very pleased that these growers have been able to restart their operations with trucks loaded with pallets of bananas leaving their premises yesterday and today. The bananas are bound for New South Wales and Western Australia.

“Both properties are working to strict biosecurity guidelines which allow harvesting while stopping any risk of further disease spread.

“After more than eight weeks of this response, these two properties are still the only banana farms where Panama disease has been confirmed.

“We are working hard to keep it that way. Through close cooperation with industry and these individual growers we have succeeded in putting in place the most stringent biosecurity requirements that allow production to resume while safeguarding the wider industry.”

Australian Banana Growers’ Council (ABGC) Deputy Chairman Adrian Crema said it was great to see both farms once again sending bananas to market.

“Both growers have worked extremely hard to meet the biosecurity requirements and it gives the industry a lot of confidence to see these farms back in production. Banana growers need to know that there are biosecurity arrangements in place for Panama disease tropical race 4-infected properties to keep farming.”

If you suspect Panama disease on your plants, report it immediately to Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23.

For more information on preventing Panama disease visit www.biosecurity.qld.gov.au

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