The story behind the red wax-tipped bananas in Australia

Queensland wax-tipped bananas (Source: Verdemode)

The red wax-tipped bananas are those grown on banana plantations in Northern Queensland that use less chemicals and have created working farm ecosystems. This type of farming is called ecoganics which was started by Frank and Dianne Sciacca.

The Sciacca’s have been farming bananas for 30 years but changed the way they operated 15 years ago. The chemicals that they were advised to use on the soil and plants were not working and very costly. So Frank decided to farm more like what was done 60 years ago. Now insects abound and synthetic fertilisers are forbidden. A number of nearby farmers are following his methods and have formed a team.

Methods employed include:
- eliminating insecticides, miticides, nematicides and any fertiliser that kills organisms in the soil,
- cut herbicide use by 25%,
- applied fungicides sparingly,
- planted trees and shrubs to provide food and shelter for native animals,  
- provided a network of dams, drains and grassed areas to prevent runoff to the sea and Great Barrier Reef,
- allowed grasses and weeds to remain to provide flowers and habitats for insects and other small animals.

It took 4-6 years for improvements to appear and now the farms have working ecosystems; they save thousands of dollars in costs; production is not as good as before but this approach is profitable and sustainable. The conventional approach disrupted the ecosystem and reduced biodiversity. Now a working cycle has returned which is more biodiverse. For example, insects are seen as useful contributors as they are predators, pollinators, recyclers, scavengers, decomposers, soil creators and a food source. Other plants and animals join this web on land and in soil and water.

Nearby is a Queensland Department of Agriculture research station which is studying their results and doing further research. So far they have found the following:
- the carbon in the soil has risen (carbon sequestration),
- the number of microbes in the soil has risen,
- beneficial insects have returned,
- there is greater soil nutrient cycling,
- there is less soil nitrogen which creates competition and helps keep down pests such as Panama disease,
- greater insect diversity,
- beneficial nematodes have returned,
- research is underway to safely keep problem fungi under control.

Frank Sciacca says that these methods can be applied to other farming enterprises.

More information:
- ABC Landline: Red Tips: The story behind the bananas with the red tips.
- Pacific Coast Eco bananas

Regenerative agriculture is adding resilience to Australian farming

Harvesting a pasture crop at Colin Seis' farm Winona, NSW. (Source: Winona)

When pioneering Australian farmers started to work the land, they got very good returns in the average to good years because of the richer soils under grassland that was managed by Aboriginals. However over time, agriculture has intensified without returning all the essential nutrients and organic material to the soil and has killed off some beneficial soil bacteria and fungi through the use of chemicals. The carbon levels of the soil have declined from those measurements taken in the early years of European settlement (Colin Seis personal communication).

“Regenerative agriculture is a system of land management principles and practices that increase biodiversity, enrich soils, improve watersheds and enhance ecosystem services.” (Soils for Life). Regenerative agriculture includes such methods as carbon farming, pasture cropping, organic farming, rotational grazing, planting windbreaks and other sustainable farming methods.

Some of their techniques include the rotational grazing of large herds of sheep or cattle, where the animals are moved on from a field before the grass is damaged and the soil is exposed, rather than grazing until the soil is near bare. It leads to better plant recovery, perpetual soil cover and good nutrient cycling with grass mulch and manure added to the soil. Very little carbon and nutrients are lost when the animals go to market, that is, it creates an on farm cycle of soil essentials. This may require farmers to have lower stocking rates and to de-stock dramatically during drought, so the soils are protected.

Another technique is to have forageable native plants in windbreaks, either fenced off or as spirals in the paddock (cropping occurs between the spirals).  Such plants include certain wattles, saltbushes and a number of other edible native shrubs. These act as backup feed during drought and provide wind shelter and shade for the animals. Other farmers plant windbreaks of local native plants to improve farm biodiversity with the usual advantages of shade and shelter from the wind. Windbreaks also help prevent top soil loss.

Other regenerative farmers are pasture croppers where they sow crops into well grazed native and/or exotic pastures. The native grasses (and some exotics) are perennial, summer growing and dormant in winter. This means they do not interfere with winter growing crops such as wheat or oats and provide pasture in summer after the crop harvest. The ground is perpetually covered (reducing top soil loss) and fields can be grazed soon after harvest. The system works best with stock that are rotationally grazed. There is less need for fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides and these farmers can gradually move to organic or spray free farming. This helps reduce their operating costs.

These, and similar methods, do help provide resilience to drought; improve soil carbon (making a richer soil); higher crop yields; better water retention; increasing beneficial microorganisms numbers; reduced soil loss; and can lead to organic farming and better farm biodiversity.

Further reading:

- Colin Seis - Pasture Cropping: http://www.pasturecropping.com/pasture-cropping

- Soils for life: adopting regenerative practices: http://www.soilsforlife.org.au/home/index.html

- Australian farmers driving up profits through regenerative agriculture: https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news/australian-farmers-driving-up-profits-through-regenerative-agriculture/

- Regenerative agriculture finds solid backing as decades of success show renewal. ABC Rural News, March 10, 2019.

Australian red meat sector sets 2030 carbon neutral target

Beef cattle (photo Julie May)

Research and marketing group, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has funded a CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) research project to identify ways the industry could become carbon neutral. After a year of study, the managing director, Richard Norton, announced that the industry could become carbon neutral by 2030. He was addressing the MLA annual general meeting in Alice Springs on November 22, 2017.

According to MLA, potential strategies for reaching the target will include offsetting emissions with carbon farming, genetic selection and a potential vaccine to reduce methane production. Expanding the use of legumes and dung beetles in pastures could also be used to offset emissions.

Read more at: Australian red meat sector sets 2030 carbon neutral target at Alice Springs producer forum. ABC News, November 22, 2017.