Territory bananas for chop in freckle fight

NEARLY every banana plant in the Northern Territory will be destroyed in a drastic bid to stop a fungal disease threatening Australia’s $600 million ­industry.

Peter Fuller unpacks bananas at Greenies Real Food in Rapid Creek. Despite the impending doom facing Territory grown bananas the popular fruit will remain available to purchase across the state.

NEARLY every banana plant in the Northern Territory will be destroyed in a drastic bid to stop a fungal disease threatening Australia’s $600 million ­industry.

The $26 million eradication plan will affect large commercial operations all the way down to people with a single banana plant in their backyard.

Six eradication zones have been established, which include the Greater Darwin area; Rum Jungle and Batchelor, south of Darwin; Dundee Beach, southwest of Darwin; Nauiyu/Daly River, southwest of Darwin; Milikapiti on Melville Island; and the Ramingining Aboriginal community in West Arnhem Land.

Three commercial growers have been affected, one of them is responsible for the vast majority of production in the banana industry.

The plan hopes to stop the spread of banana freckle into Queensland and kill the disease in the Territory by 2017.

READ: BANANA FRECKLE CHECKERS ATTACKED BY DOGS

It’s another major hit for the Top End’s banana industry after production was severely reduced in recent years by the soil-borne Panama Tropical Race 4 (TR4) disease.

Ursula Kupfer, part-owner of Greenies Real Food in Rapid Creek, said she was concerned banana prices would go up.

“Everyone eats bananas, we want them to stay affordable,” she said.

But the Australia Banana’s Growers Council is optimistic it will not affect prices in the NT as supply from local industry was not enough to meet ­demand in any case.

“Banana freckle is one of the world’s worst banana diseases and this new eradication plan is necessary to protect Australia’s banana industry and its $600 million annual production,” said ABGC Chairman Doug Phillips.

Banana plant growers, commercial and residential, are required to destroy their plants and any fruit from those plants by the end of April next year.