WA banana production drops to 20-year low

Posted June 13, 2013 15:18:01

Audio: Doriana Mangili explains the reasons behind the drop (ABC Rural)

Banana production in the Western Australian town of Carnarvon is the lowest it's been in around 20 years, with the effects of drought and a heatwave earlier this year taking a toll on crops.

Numbers through the Sweeter Banana Cooperative's packing shed are 70 per cent below average, even lower than numbers seen in the weeks following major flooding in late 2010.

Doriana Mangili, business manager of the Sweeter Banana Co-operative, says drought has been affecting production for some time, but the January heatwave is behind a further drop.

"Those bunches that came out (during the heatwave) are now at the point where they should be picking and there's obviously been some damage because they're coming on very slowly, they're not ripening and we're having bunches fall out of trees for no reason."

Carnarvon is Western Australia's key banana growing region and produces, on average, around 5,000 tonnes of the fruit a year.

Growers rely on water from the Gascoyne River, but with the region in drought, it's been over two years since it's been recharged with a fresh flow.

Ms Mangili says the quality of the river is causing issues for banana plantations.

"A lot of that is salty and growers aren't able to pump from their own wells and they're needing to draw from the (irrigation pipeline) scheme.

"So yeah, the water situation is a problem."

There is light at the end of the tunnel, though, with a favourable rainfall outlook on the horizon.

"Just looking at the weather forecast for the next couple of days, (there's) some rain coming and we're hoping that will push into the catchment and it will be enough for a river flow," Ms Mangili says.

"The forecast for June through to August, the winter forecast for rain this year, is showing an above average chance of more than the usual level of rain, so that's a good sign too."

Topics: bananas, agricultural-prices, carnarvon-6701