SOME BANANA INDUSTRY VITAL STATISTICS

• About 12,000 hectares of Australia is currently under bananas.
• Most bananas are grown in North Queensland (about 80%), approx. 15% in NSW and the remainder in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
• The most common variety grown is Cavendish.
• Lady Finger bananas grow better in cooler subtropical climates. Of the 977 hectares of bananas grown in South East Queensland, over half are dedicated to Lady Finger. In NSW, 2/3 of bananas grown are Lady Finger. There are also some small holdings of new hybrid Goldfinger and old favourite Ducasse.
• There are approx. 2,500 growers in Australia, with around 1,000 in Queensland.
• The industry provides around 5,000 direct jobs.
• Average farm size in NQ is around 14 hectares compared with around 3 hectares in South East Queensland and Northern NSW. Only a handful of southern plantations are over 30 hectares.
• Topography: the plantations of North Queensland are generally on flat to sloping land, whereas in southern regions, they occupy steep land with a northerly aspect, to get above the frost line.
• Crop cycle times: 12-18 months in the sub tropic plantations and 12 months in the tropics.
• The North Queensland industry has expanded rapidly over the past 10-20 years, due to ever increasing consumption levels. More recently, low world prices for sugar and high banana prices induced by crop losses due to cyclone activity have seen many sugar cane growers switch over to bananas.