2019 May 2nd rural

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RURAL REPORT

Congress countdown is on! #BananaCongress2019

Banana growers from across Australia will descend on the Gold Coast in less than a month for the industry’s premier biennial event. The 2019 Australian Banana Industry Congress will take place at Royal Pines Resort, from May 22-24. The line-up includes world-class scientists, trade experts, business gurus and – of course – innovative growers. “We’re putting banana growers front and centre at this year’s Congress,” said Congress Committee Chair and Far North Queensland grower Paul Inderbitzin. “Not only have we developed a focussed, dynamic program of exciting speakers and networking opportunities – but we’ll also have some of our peers take the stage to share their valuable on-farm experience.” The Grower Innovation panel and Farming with TR4 discussion will be highlights of Day Two, but there’s plenty to look forward to across the event, including:  Bernard Salt, well-known demographer and social commentator  Shane Webcke, footy legend and farm safety ambassador  Marc Jackson, Special Projects Manager at global banana business Fyffes  Dr Bruce Campbell, instrumental in saving New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry “I’d encourage anyone involved in the banana industry to jump onto the Congress website to get a true sense of just how diverse and dynamic this year’s line-up is,” Mr Inderbitzin said. “We’re also delighted that comedian Dave Hughes will join us for the much-loved Banana Ball – the perfect way to conclude the event and celebrate those recognised with an Award of Honour.” Program and registration details can be found at www.bananacongress.org.au.

Cassowary farmers proving their environmental credentials through the drumMUSTER program. SINCE June 1999 farmers and agvet chemical users in the Cassowary Coast region have utilised the drumMUSTER container recycling program to recycle over 300,000 ag and vet chemical containers. This equates to over 300 tonnes of plastic that has been recycled rather than being burnt or buried either on farms or in landfill. Agsafe’s AgVet chemical product stewardship programs, drumMUSTER and ChemClear, divert used containers and obsolete chemicals from landfill, re-routing them into recycling and responsible disposal pathways that assist in keeping land and waterways safe. Since drumMUSTER started operations in 1998, more than 37,000 tonnes of unwanted plastics have been diverted from landfill sites into recycling programs, which has saved Australian local councils a massive $33 million on landfill costs for waste management purposes. There are over 800 collection sites throughout Australia including over 350 local council sites and over 130 community groups participate. Plastics make up the majority of AgVet containers and those displaying the drumMUSTER logo, have a suitable recycling pathway aimed at reducing Australia’s carbon emissions and conserving our resources. Once the stored, empty, clean containers are collected, they are shredded and granulated, processed into pellets via heat extrusion, then re-used to make wheelie bins, fencing, pipes, bollards, road markers and public furniture. Dominique Doyle, Agsafe General Manager, said of the program, “Farm businesses who frequent drumMUSTER sites are setting a good example of how the simple act of recycling can keep land and waterways cleaner and litter-free, and communities safer.”

Capability investment to drive research innovation for Australian sugarcane SRA, on behalf of its grower, miller and government stakeholders, is investing in sugarcane industry capability and innovation through two significant initiatives that have just been awarded to 2019 recipients. These investments are occurring via the SRA Sugar Industry Research Awards and the SRA Postgraduate Research Scholarships, and will see the recipients undertake projects that will help deliver productivity, profitability and sustainability outcomes for growers and millers. The projects include: • Characterising nitrogen use efficiency in sugarcane (Postgraduate scholarship: Mrs Anoma Ranagalage, University of Queensland, Brisbane) • New approaches to quantifying nitrogen fluxes in enhanced efficiency fertilisers (Postgraduate scholarship: Dr Aiden Chin, University of Queensland, Brisbane) • Innovative techniques to coat the basecutter blades of har-

vesters to reduce wear (Researcher Award: Dr Christiane Schulz, University of South Australia, Adelaide) • Developing a marker system to measure dosage of alleles for use as a selection tool in the sugarcane breeding program (Researcher Award: Dr Meredith McNeil, CSIRO, Canberra). Dr Christiane Schulz with the University of South Australia is undertaking a Researcher Award project to look at extending the durability of basecutter blades on sugarcane harvesters. Basecutter blades are a key component of the harvesting process and need to be replaced regularly as they wear out from being one of the first contact points with the sugarcane crop. Dr Schulz said she would use state-of-the-art hard-facing processes to look at ways of increasing the wear-resistance and sharpness of basecutter blades. “This will be the first time the state-of-the-art hard-facing processes, laser cladding and thermal spraying, are used for improving basecutter blades in Australia,” she said. “If successful, it has

Page 18 Cassowary Coast Independent News, Thursday, May 2, 2018

the potential to improve efficiency, as well as reduce cane loss and damage to the stalk and stool.” A range of potential coatings will be examined and tested and the results communicated back to industry and SRA. SRA General Manager for the Research Funding Unit, Dr Harjeet Khanna, said these capability development programs were designed to encourage new talent and ideas to benefit the Australian industry. “These programs help researchers undertake relatively small projects that can test novel ideas that could lead to further research activity or directly to productivity, profitability and sustainability outcomes for sugarcane growers and millers,” Dr Khanna said.


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2019 May 2nd rural by Wet Tropic Times - Issuu