Northern Territory Citrus Farm Takes on Banana Crop

Citrus farmer Richard Byllaardt, Managing Director of citrus farm Sevenfields, is taking on a new crop, bananas, following the eradication of nearby banana plantations by an outbreak of banana freckle disease. There are 600 plants in the ground, and the crop is expected to be commercially viable by the middle of 2016, after an eighteen-month growth period.

Although the plants were purchased in April of 2014, the decision to plant wasn’t made until the Sevenfields farmland was confirmed safe, and not part of the exclusion zone. Darwin and nearby Ramingining and Tiwi islands were the main areas affected by the disease.

The fact that almost 10% of Australia’s banana crop has had to be destroyed will be a boon come harvest time, and should mean there is heavy demand for the Sevenfields crop. Originally the Northern Territory will be the test target market for the finished banana crops, but Mr Byllaardt confirmed that the whole Eastern Seaboard might end up enjoying the fruits of his labours.

“If the trial is a success and we increase the plantings, we would be targeting the eastern seaboard of Australia, that being Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne,” he says.

Signs of a bumper crop are good too, judging by the quality of the citrus and mango coming out of the area. “I think this soil is good for growing anything. The mangoes look fantastic, the citrus is looking good across the road and obviously the bananas like this soil too," farm manager, Tim Byllaardt told abc.net.au.

For more information:
Richard Byllaardt
Sevenfields
T: +61 (0) 8 8971 0511
Richard.Byllaardt@sevenfields.com.au