"Lunchbox" banana a winner

Banana suckers that were being cut off and discarded as waste a year ago, are now fetching up to $2 each, if you can get a hold of them, says NSW DPI horticulturist Arthur Akehurst.

Demand for banana suckers to plant out new areas in NSW is exceeding supply for the first time in many years as the resurgent local banana industry looks positively to the future.

“Suckers being planted now in NSW won’t bare fruit for 18 months, so NSW growers are predicting a healthy medium-term outlook,” said NSW DPI horticulturist Arthur Akehurst, who is based at Murwillumbah.

Mr Akehurst said there were a number of reasons why growers expected a buoyant future, well after the artificial boom created by Cyclone Larry’s devastation in North Queensland had settled down.

“Firstly, growers are hoping that consumers will stick with the NSW banana after having experienced its sweeter taste and smaller size while the larger North Queensland fruit were off the market,” he said.

“Apparently the agents in Sydney are getting feedback that the NSW ‘lunchbox’ banana is what people want.”

Mr Akehurst said North Queensland bananas were starting to flow back on to the market and they should return to peak supply in the first half of next year.

“But growers here are getting reports that the North Queensland crop may not reach the levels of ‘before Larry’ for some years,” he said

“Some former north Queensland banana growers are apparently switching to cane while cane prices are reasonable and others are looking at other alternatives to bananas.”

“It’s a bit of a gamble to plant bananas in NSW now because if prices do return to $10 a carton, it’s pretty tough to make any profit.”

Mr Akehurst said the traditional way of planting new bananas was to remove a small sucker from a fully grown ‘mother’ plant and plant it out on its own.

“Banana suckers that were being cut off and discarded as waste a year ago, are now fetching up to $2 each, if you can get a hold of them,” he said.

He said the expansion was mainly in the Tweed and Brunswick areas and reminded growers of regulations surrounding the planting of new banana material.

“Growers and backyarders must have a permit to plant even one banana due to the risk of spreading diseases such as Bunchy Top.

“So before you move or plant any planting material, even a sucker from one of your own plants, you must obtain a free permit from a NSW DPI office,” he said.

Contact:  Arthur Akehurst, NSW DPI, Murwillumbah (02) 6672 2770.