Congress provides positive boost

Events

Congress provides positive boost

The banana industry converged on Far North Queensland in May for the 14th biennial Banana Congress. Almost 500 delegates attended the congress in Cairns from 12-15 May with the speaker line-up drawing on expertise from both within and outside of the industry. According to Congress Chair and Lakeland grower, Paul Inderbitzin, speakers included Matt Church (Thought Leaders), Adam Ferrier (Thinkerbell), Andrew Bate (Swarm Farms Robotics) and Tim Hunt (Rabobank). “The response to this year’s line-up, and to the Far North Queensland location, was phenomenal. In fact, it was one of our most well-attended events on record,” Mr Inderbitzin said. “We were delighted to have growers join us from all of our growing regions – of course, Far North Queenslanders were out in force, but we also had representatives from NSW, WA and the NT.” While there was plenty of information to take in, growers and industry representatives also made the most of some rare time away from their businesses to attend a range of social events. Standouts included the Banana Women’s Luncheon and the much-anticipated Banana Ball, the latter featuring worldrenowned Outback Wrangler Matt Wright. Long-time banana ambassador and NRL legend, Billy Slater, also stopped by for a special trade show evening, letting delegates in on his footy tips for the round ahead. “It’s been an incredibly tough few years for our industry. We hope people left the event feeling motivated and positive about the future of this dynamic industry – and that they had a bit of fun too,” Mr Inderbitzin said. The next Banana Congress is scheduled for 2023.

Awards recognise bananas’ best

The Australian banana industry recognised five of its best with awards announced at the Banana Ball as part of Congress 2021. Awards of Honour were presented to Dennis Howe, Franziska and Peter Inderbitzin, and Jeff Daniells, while Boogan’s Gavin Devaney took home the inaugural Future Farming Award. Awards of Honour have been given out at every Congress since the event was first held in 1995. This year, the Australian Banana Growers’ Council (ABGC) also introduced the Future Farming Award to celebrate outstanding achievement in banana best management practice. ABGC Chair, Stephen Lowe, said he couldn’t imagine a more fitting recipient than Gavin Devaney for the inaugural award and paid tribute to the incredible careers of those acknowledged with Awards of Honour. “We count some of the world’s most innovative growers and researchers among our Australian industry. To say we are lucky is an understatement,” Mr Lowe said.

Outback Wrangler Matt Wright presents the inaugural Future Farming Award to Gavin Devaney.

MC Todd Widdicombe, Benny Banana and NRL legend Billy Slater at the Banana Congress tradeshow.