Red-tipped bananas in Australia have attracted renewed attention after a social media video from two British travellers went viral, receiving more than 11 million views. The red wax tip indicates fruit grown under the Ecoganic farming method developed by Innisfail growers Dianne and Frank Sciaccia in Far North Queensland. Retailers label the fruit as "uniquely Ecoganic".
According to Ms Sciaccia, the accredited production system relies on natural ecosystem processes to maintain soil function and reduce the use of chemical fertilisers and insecticides. It differs from organic systems, as some inputs are still permitted. Interest in the method has expanded to other crops, including avocados, apples, and pears in Victoria and almonds in South Australia. Work with papaya production is also being revisited after earlier crop losses.
Eight growers in Australia are certified under the system, including producer William Darveniza, who farms about 260 km north of Townsville. He is in his first year of formally producing red-tipped bananas and intends to apply the method to additional crops, including pawpaw. Mr Darveniza said, "A lot of those mycorrhizal fungi and the bacteria that they evolved alongside in the rainforest are sort of taken out of the equation in the conventional farming system that we have." He aims to reintroduce soil biology to support crop resilience.
Around 80 tons of red-tipped bananas are supplied each week by all participating growers. Export activity is emerging, with trial shipments sent to Japan over the past two years. Ms Sciaccia said, "They've done all of their testing on the product, and the texture, taste, what they call sensory attributes, sit above any other product that they import from around the world." Discussions with a major Japanese retailer are ongoing, and commercial export volumes may follow.
Ms Sciaccia said exports would complement, rather than replace, domestic sales. "I don't see the export as being a major part of our business, but it certainly has the potential to be as equal to our domestic market quite easily," she said.
Source: ABC News
