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Home > Publications and reports > Case studies > Sustainable horticultural systems for the coastal Wet Tropics

Sustainable horticultural production systems for the coastal Wet Tropics

DPI&F banana producers at a field site in the Innisfail district

DPI&F Senior Project Officer Stewart Lindsay presents results to banana producers at a field site in the Innisfail district

The coastal Wet Tropics region of Queensland is home to the majority of Australian production of banana and papaya, with a collective production area of approximately 10 500 hectares and farm gate value of approximately $290 million annually.

Because of the region’s high annual rainfall (2500–4000 millimetres) and its close proximity to the GBR and world heritage listed Wet Tropics rainforests, local horticultural industries must manage for a number of potential environmental impacts arising from their production systems.

DPI&F, through the pilot Reef Extension Project, is working with these industries to assist the development and implementation of production practices that are good for business as well as the environment.

The project has been very successful in eliciting practice change on-farm by taking a farming systems approach that works collectively with key producers. The key steps in the process include:

  1. Working with producers to identify the different aspects of their farming system that potentially have negative impacts on runoff water quality; for example, nutrient and pesticide use, and sediment movement.
  2. Assisting producers to document current farm practices that manage these risks, and to identify possible improvements to existing practices or the need for innovative new practices.
  3. Assisting producers with follow-up assistance to pursue improvements and implementation of these identified farm practices.
  4. Promoting the adoption of these changed practices within the broader industry, including key stakeholders such as industry service providers, using Producer Demonstration Sites (PDS) to demonstrate practice change and implementation.

During the 2006–07 year, key banana producers identified and documented a range of banana production practices that improve runoff water quality while maintaining or improving profitability. The document that resulted has been used to inform significant projects such as the Tully WQIP, and is available to and used by producers as reference material.

Five PDS across the Tully and Innisfail districts were established during the 2006–07 year. They demonstrated the adoption of BMP for nutrient, sediment and pestcide management. Groups of producers visited these sites to find out how to improve management practices on their own properties.

In addition, DPI&F are continuously developing software tools that help producers implement BMPs for nutrient use. As a result, around 20 per cent of the banana production area in the Wet Tropics is using a purpose-built database, known as Bananaman, for keeping records associated with nutrient use and diagnostic testing.

 

Last reviewed 03 March 2008

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