QUEENSLAND’s two iconic summer fruits – bananas and mangoes – are the focus of a $1 million three-year research project that aims to improve the productivity and sustainability of the crops across tropical Australia.
The multi-agency research project will focus on soil health and trial innovative techniques to improve nitrogen use efficiency.
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) project leader Dr Geoff Dickinson said that growing fruit trees in healthier soils with increased organic matter may improve fruit quality and yield.
“Plants grown in soils with increased carbon are more drought resistant, crop more evenly, and cope better with environmental variability,” Dr Dickinson said.
Department of Natural Resources and Mines scientist Bronwyn Masters said the research would measure nitrogen losses to the atmosphere from current fertiliser practices, and identify practices that reduced these emissions.
“Any nitrogen losses are exactly that, lost. If we can reduce them, there are potential savings for the grower, as well as a good outcome for the environment,” she said.
The new techniques being investigated include the use of controlled release nitrogen fertilisers, organic mulches and ground covers.
Research and demonstration sites have now been established on two mango farms near Mareeba and two banana farms near Innisfail.
Dimbulah mango growers Sam and Kylie Collins were happy to collaborate with this project. They have developed their own novel system, where grasses and legumes that they encourage to grow in the inter-rows are spread under the trees by a side delivery slasher.
“We see the mango roots growing right up in the mulch under the trees. With our system we are not only improving the soil and reducing water and fertiliser inputs, the mulch means we use less herbicides in the orchard, which saves us money,” Mr Collins said.
Adrian Zugno, like the majority of mango growers on the Tablelands, keeps the soil bare along his tree rows at his farm at Mutchilba. He said the project came along at just the right time.
“I have been thinking for some time that we needed to do something different in the orchard so the soil around the tree trunk wasn’t exposed. When we used to grow tobacco, we used the reject tobacco as mulch around our Kiett mango trees, and the fruit quality was great. I'll be really interested to see the results from this project and if the treatments have any effect on yield or quality,” Mr Zugno said.
The main banana site was established last year in spring on Craig Buchanan’s farm at East Palmerston. Tissue-cultured bananas were established in single rows, and the effects of sown ground covers and new nitrogen management practices will be investigated over the next three years. A second banana site has been recently established at Lance and Mick Horsford’s farm near Mena Creek.
Fruit quality and yields, nitrogen losses, soil carbon levels and soil biological activity will be measured at all trial sites. The economics of the different treatments will also be evaluated.
The Australian Mango Industry Association (AMIA) and the Australian Banana Growers Council (ABGC) are highly supportive of the project.
AMIA Chairman Gavin Scurr said agriculture industries need to be resilient to environmental variability.“Projects like this provide useful tools to facilitate a change in management practices across the industry,” Mr Scurr said.
“Mangoes and bananas are Australia’s largest intensive horticultural industries, valued at over $600 million a year. If this project is successful, it will guide the uptake of these management practices into other horticultural industries,” he said.
The collaborating agencies involved in the project are the Queensland Departments of Agriculture and Fisheries and Natural Resources and Mines; Northern Gulf Resource Management Group and James Cook University
