Great Barrier Reef Foundation ‘incredibly grateful’ for Innisfail farmer’s red tip bananas

The red-tip bananas available in the supermarket play an impressive role in preserving the Great Barrier Reef, and they also symbolize the future of farming. FIND OUT HOW:

FRANK and Dianne Sciacca pioneered the award-winning ecoganic farming method more than twenty years ago, the process behind the attention-grabbing red tip banana.

Their methods are now being recognised as playing an important role in preserving the health of the Great Barrier Reef.

It was the reef, in fact, that inspired ecoganic farming in the first place.

“I’ve always loved to dive on the reef. Twenty years ago, you could see everything. It showed me what a healthy ecosystem is all about,” said Mr Sciacca.

Red Tip banana grower Frank Sciacca says farmers can nurture the environment and make money at the same time Photo: John Andersen.

Frank, owner of Innisfail-based Eco Bananas, decided then that his farm needed to mirror the ecological principles displayed by the reef’s magnificent biodiversity.

He began by sowing the seeds of diversity into the soil of his crops.

“Traditional farming focuses on the crop, and nothing more. We focus on the symbiotic relationship between the animals, insects and other plants that exist in our farm’s ecosystem.

“This recognises and respects the farm’s natural capital. It means we develop a portfolio of plant life that balances the farm’s ecosystem.”

The red tips on the bananas come from a biodegradable wax, added in the packing process, that breaks down as quickly as leaf litter. Frank says the bold colour was chosen to make ecoganic farming products easily identifiable to customers.

“We wanted it to be very visual,” he said.

“We wanted it to be bold and very visual.” The red tips on bananas are designed to identify the ecoganic farming to customers. Photo supplied.

The ecoganic method employs several practical and sustainable methods that are being increasingly recognised in Far North Queensland as beneficial to fresh and coastal water quality.

Frank uses no pesticides or synthetic chemicals to protect his crop from pests, relying instead on surrounding plants that have naturally protected each other for millennia. He also cultivates floral growth – grass and weeds – among his crops, strengthening the soil and preventing run-off into water courses.

The whole process involves fortnightly biodiversity monitoring, biannual ecological management audits and annual carbon testing to maintain cognisance over the farm’s impact on the ecosystem.

Frank Sciacca believes all components of his farm’s ecosystem are equally important, and allows the plants to play their natural roles in protecting each other from pests. Photo supplied.

Mr Sciacca says the ecoganic farming method has been embraced by other farms in the region and also has the interest of primary producers from other states.

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation has also applauded Frank’s methods. The foundation’s director of water quality, Robert Speed, says he absolutely supports Eco Bananas’s way of farming as a practice that reduces the risk of poor water quality.

“The foundation is currently managing a $200m investment, the majority of which is going towards working with farmers,” says Mr Speed.

Robert Speed, Director of Water Quality for the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, applauds Eco Bananas efforts to reduce their impact on the Great Barrier Reef.

“Changes in land use have caused a five-times increase in sediment run-off, a two-times increase in nitrogen levels and a complete introduction of toxins such as pesticides,” he said.

“The Great Barrier Reef Foundation works closely with farmers … to encourage practices that deliver both better outcomes for the landholder, through improved productivity and profitability, as well as better outcomes for the reef.”

Mr Sciacca says farming methods that account for their local ecology holds the key to productive and sustainable agriculture.

“The ecosystem has to be the answer moving forward.”

Originally published as Great Barrier Reef Foundation ‘incredibly grateful’ for Innisfail farmer’s red tip bananas