Banana growers are back
For the first time in a decade, Kimberley Produce is harvesting bananas again.
The Ord Valley growers previously had as many as 50ha of the popular lunchbox fruit but gave them up in 2004 after bad weather played havoc with their crop.
Owner Craig Dobson said that turned out to be a costly decision when a cyclone wiped out a large portion of the Queensland crop soon after.
"In 2004 we had a series of storm events that made bananas non-viable at the time so we ended up pushing all our trees over about a week before a big cyclone hit Queensland," he said.
"We missed out on a lucrative year that year but you can't predict those things and you can't dwell on that.
"We've got about 15ha in the ground and we are planting another three of four hectares by the end of the year."
Mr Dobson said Kimberley Produce would pick 1000 bunches a week in peak season, which equated to about 1500 boxes.
"When bananas are good they're brilliant, but when they are bad they're terrible," he said.
"They are a good crop for the Ord and we see it as a good addition to our cropping mix.
"We currently have grapefruit, mangos, pawpaws and now bananas."
Mr Dobson said the first banana trees were planted around the time of the Kununurra Agricultural Show last July and they would likely give second generation fruit by the end of the year.
"We will pick now for about 15 or 16 weeks and that will see all of the parent bunches harvested and then there will be a slight lull in harvest while we wait for the return bunches," he said.
"When you harvest the parent bunch you cut the parent tree off and you leave two followers and each of them has a bunch."
Mr Dobson said heavy rain and flooding in February had set a small portion of the plantation back a few weeks but everything was now back on track.
"We did have a bit of water lying around for three to four weeks and what we saw there was that part of the plantation had its growth stopped while the water was around," he said.
"Once the ground dried out they resumed normal growth."
Mr Dobson said most of their fruit were extra-large or extra-extra-large, with Ord bananas usually bigger than the rest of WA because of the climate.
He said in coming years they would increase banana production to 30ha.
At one time there were more than 30 banana growers on the Ord, now there are only three.
