Are bananas in trouble?

Cavendish bananas are the main banana type in Australia. They are a common part of many lunchboxes and if these bananas were affected by a disease it could devastate the industry. The Tropical strain 4 of Panama Disease is a real problem for this banana type.

The Northern Territory government has recently lifted the restriction on Quarantine areas in that region. These were believed to be effective barriers for the spread of Panama Disease.

The Australian Banana Growers Council’s (ABGC) President, Mr Dour Phillips, said “The decision by the Northern Territory’s Department of Resources to abandon the quarantine areas is outrageous and totally unacceptable. The quarantine areas were protecting the nation’s banana industry from the spread of Panama Tropical Race 4. This opens up a totally unacceptable threat to the $450 million national banana industry and banana farming in Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales. This disease can easily be spread through the movement of soil carried on clothing and boots and on equipment, machinery and trucks,”

The ABGC is not the only one calling for the quarantine areas to be reinstated.

The Agriculture Minister for Queensland, Mr John McVeigh, said “This decision could crush Queensland’s banana industry. I’m calling on the Northern Territory Government to change its mind and reinstate the quarantine for the sake of common sense.”

The Director of Biosecurity for the Northern Territory government, Dr Andrew Tomkins, says that it believes that the disease has been spreading regardless of the quarantine areas and therefore has lifted the restriction. The Government says that the best defence against this disease is the breeding of resistant banana strains.