SOURCE: Kim Honan, ABC Rural The last remaining commercial guava farmer in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales is preparing to rip out two-thirds of the orchard’s 3,000 trees. It follows one of Australia’s largest growers bulldozing his orchard on the Alstonville plateau earlier this year to convert toContinue Reading
SOURCE: Matt Brann, ABC Rural The Northern Territory government has confirmed multiple outbreaks of the fungal disease known as banana freckle. After initially being found on a single property near Rum Jungle in May, the government today identified 12 new sites of infection at Fly Creek, Batchelor, Marrakai and theContinue Reading
SOURCE: Jodie Gunders and Tanya Murphy, ABC News Smashed on toast, tossed in a salad, or blended in a smoothie; whichever way you eat your avocados, farmers are pleading for consumers to eat more of them. A new report by agribusiness bank Rabobank said Australian growers would this year produceContinue Reading
SOURCE: Liam O’Callaghan, Fruitnet The Queensland Government has awarded Manbulloo the commercial rights to the three new mango varieties, NMBP-1201, NMBP-1243 and NMBP-4069. The leading Australian mango grower’s marketing, management and export company, Mango Road, was selected to manage the launch of the new varieties. Queensland minister for agricultural industryContinue Reading
SOURCE: Izzy McMillan, The West Banana freckle disease has re-emerged in the Northern Territory, sparking fears the outbreak could threaten the banana industry. This is the first time the fungal disease, which leaves a spotty, sandpaper texture on the fruit, has emerged since 2019. So far, 17 properties have identifiedContinue Reading
A banana freckle outbreak in the Top End has grown to 17 properties, three years after the disease was officially eradicated from the Northern Territory. The fungal disease was detected last month on plants at a residential rural property in the Batchelor region, about100 kilometres south of Darwin. A surveillanceContinue Reading
SOURCE: Khaled Al Khawaldeh, The Guardian Banana freckle disease has been discovered in the Northern Territory, sparking fears of an outbreak that could threaten the local banana industry. It is the first discovery of the disease since Australia was declared banana freckle-free in 2019. The fungal disease causes rough sandpaper-likeContinue Reading
SOURCE: Matthew Jones, Fruitnet Australian mango growers will benefit from a A$2.7m (USD1.9m) injection into extension and communication projects. The two five-year projects will be deliver by Hort Innovation and Australia’s peak industry body for mangoes, Australian Mango Industry Association (AMIA). The extension project will work with growers to developContinue Reading
SOURCE: Cait Kelly, The Guardian Farmers have been forced to dump thousands of avocados in far north Queensland because of an oversupply of the fruit and increased transportation and packaging costs. Jan De Lai, a resident of Atherton in far north Queensland, posted the photos of the discarded avocados toContinue Reading
SOURCE: Pat Heagney, ABC Rural The world’s first automatic mango harvester is promising to revolutionize the industry, as it approaches commercialization in Central Queensland. After several years of trials and the installation of new mechanics, camera systems and grippers, lead researcher Professor Kerry Walsh says the harvester’s development is onContinue Reading
SOURCE: Jill Houser, Freshplaza Australian lychee growers were fortunate the season had just finished before the widespread rain and flooding that impacted Queensland and New South Wales, meaning that while properties were affected, all the fruit had been picked for the year. In late February and early March, heavy rainContinue Reading
An exotic plant pest known as mango shoot looper has been officially detected in the Northern Territory for the first time, putting the region’s mango industry on alert. The moth species, originally from Asia, had not been found in Australia until a detection in Queensland in September. When in itsContinue Reading