In an unprecedented move, the 166-hectare banana farm on which the TR4 fungal strain was detected in March 2015, will be shut down to protect Australia's banana industry now that the Australian Banana Growers’ Council (ABGC) and the owners of the farm have signed off on the buy-out.
In August 2016, the ABGC, which represents the interests of the country’s commercial banana growers, had received the green light from its members to increase the Plant Health Australia levy from 0.0103 cents per kilogram to 0.5 cents per kilogram to raise 3m AUD that, added to the 1.5m AUD grant from the Federal Government, would be used to buy the farm. But the purchase was put on hold while sick plants in another property were tested for TR4.
On October 21st, the ABGC announced that it would proceed with the buy-out after Biosecurity Queensland revealed that the samples had conclusively tested negative for TR4. Their objective is to destroy all the banana plants, upgrade the fences and establish a ground cover before the wet season, to prevent the spread of the spores by surface run-off.
The farm is located in the northern part of Queensland, where 95% of the country's bananas are grown.
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