Tweet
Yeah, that's right. Maybe you'll all take this a little more seriously now.
By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer
Wed Mar 22, 2:39 PM ET
INNISFAIL, Australia - Plantation owner Kerry Alcock roamed his fields, machete in hand, seeking to salvage what he could of his banana crop. When he finds a heavy bunch still fit to sell amid the tangle of debris covering his plantation, the 58-year-old lugs it out on his back — a method he hasn't used since his youth.
In the lush agricultural region of northern Queensland state, the farmers who produce most of Australia's bananas were among those who lost their livelihoods to Cyclone Larry, a Category 5 storm with winds reaching 180 mph.
The damage has sent banana prices skyrocketing 2 1/2 times and kindled fears that markets could be open to imported fruit, a development that also has the potential of letting in foreign diseases that could decimate the local industry.
Prime Minister John Howard sought to reassure banana growers during a visit to the region Wednesday that included a stop on Alcock's farm just north of Innisfail, the city hardest hit by Monday's cyclone.
Trudging together through the mud left by the tropical rains that continue to douse the area, the farmers pleaded with Howard for assistance to meet mortgage payments and to ensure the laborers who harvest the crops don't leave for other work.
"We're not asking for a lot, we don't want a handout, we just want to get back into production and hold the people in this area, the people we've had here for years," Alcock said later.
"We found it hard to get labor before all this happened — now we've got none," said Alcock's 27-year-old son, Tony.
Hundreds of soldiers and state authorities converged on Innisfail, a town of 8,500 people, to help clean up. Workers cut through fallen trees and lashed tarps to de-roofed houses.
Howard, on his tour of the damaged zone, announced a multimillion dollar package of low-interest loans and tax-free grants for farmers and other businesses.
Officials said they were working on getting to smaller surrounding towns that were also hit by the storm. Residents in Mourilyan, six miles to the south, said no help had yet arrived there.
"We haven't seen anybody out here yet," said Jay Hutchison, close to tears as she looked out across a sugar cane field littered with the wreckage of the Hotel Castor she and her husband bought three years ago. "They have in Innisfail, but we haven't. There doesn't seem to be anybody coming to give us a hand, and we need it as much as they do."
Back on Alcock's banana plantation, the elder Alcock and a couple of workers rummaged through a sea of decapitated trunks to find bunches with bananas that had grown enough to be sold at market — extra effort that normally wouldn't be worth it except for soaring banana prices.
A normal 29-pound carton that once went for $23 at most is now fetching an unheard of $57.50, even though product standards have been lowered in light of the disaster. Fruit merchants are now accepting smaller bananas than usual.
Other milder cyclones have actually helped the farmers at times, said Alcock, by destroying only some of the crop and sending prices higher — but still leaving a reasonable harvest to make a profit.
Alcock said he expects to make as much as $215,000 from his downed plants — still just a small part of his estimated $716,000 loss from the cyclone.
Another concern for farmers here is that foreign bananas could be allowed into the country to alleviate the shortfall, possibly carrying devastating fruit diseases such as black sigatoka that is found in most banana-producing countries, but not isolated Australia.
While farmers in countries with cheaper labor can cope with losses on their fields from the disease, margins in Australia, with much higher costs for workers, are so narrow that farmers here can't afford it.
Without power, workers at the farm were manually loading bunches of bananas for sorting and cleaning before being loaded in boxes and shipped to market. Unlike many crops, bananas must be handled carefully — "like eggs," Alcock said — so they don't get the bruises that deter consumers.
Alcock first started farming as a schoolboy in 1962, and said he's not planning to leave anytime soon despite the cyclone. He said he hoped to have his fields back in order by October.
"We'll get by. We survived before," he said.
Wed Mar 22, 2:39 PM ET
INNISFAIL, Australia - Plantation owner Kerry Alcock roamed his fields, machete in hand, seeking to salvage what he could of his banana crop. When he finds a heavy bunch still fit to sell amid the tangle of debris covering his plantation, the 58-year-old lugs it out on his back — a method he hasn't used since his youth.
In the lush agricultural region of northern Queensland state, the farmers who produce most of Australia's bananas were among those who lost their livelihoods to Cyclone Larry, a Category 5 storm with winds reaching 180 mph.
The damage has sent banana prices skyrocketing 2 1/2 times and kindled fears that markets could be open to imported fruit, a development that also has the potential of letting in foreign diseases that could decimate the local industry.
Prime Minister John Howard sought to reassure banana growers during a visit to the region Wednesday that included a stop on Alcock's farm just north of Innisfail, the city hardest hit by Monday's cyclone.
Trudging together through the mud left by the tropical rains that continue to douse the area, the farmers pleaded with Howard for assistance to meet mortgage payments and to ensure the laborers who harvest the crops don't leave for other work.
"We're not asking for a lot, we don't want a handout, we just want to get back into production and hold the people in this area, the people we've had here for years," Alcock said later.
"We found it hard to get labor before all this happened — now we've got none," said Alcock's 27-year-old son, Tony.
Hundreds of soldiers and state authorities converged on Innisfail, a town of 8,500 people, to help clean up. Workers cut through fallen trees and lashed tarps to de-roofed houses.
Howard, on his tour of the damaged zone, announced a multimillion dollar package of low-interest loans and tax-free grants for farmers and other businesses.
Officials said they were working on getting to smaller surrounding towns that were also hit by the storm. Residents in Mourilyan, six miles to the south, said no help had yet arrived there.
"We haven't seen anybody out here yet," said Jay Hutchison, close to tears as she looked out across a sugar cane field littered with the wreckage of the Hotel Castor she and her husband bought three years ago. "They have in Innisfail, but we haven't. There doesn't seem to be anybody coming to give us a hand, and we need it as much as they do."
Back on Alcock's banana plantation, the elder Alcock and a couple of workers rummaged through a sea of decapitated trunks to find bunches with bananas that had grown enough to be sold at market — extra effort that normally wouldn't be worth it except for soaring banana prices.
A normal 29-pound carton that once went for $23 at most is now fetching an unheard of $57.50, even though product standards have been lowered in light of the disaster. Fruit merchants are now accepting smaller bananas than usual.
Other milder cyclones have actually helped the farmers at times, said Alcock, by destroying only some of the crop and sending prices higher — but still leaving a reasonable harvest to make a profit.
Alcock said he expects to make as much as $215,000 from his downed plants — still just a small part of his estimated $716,000 loss from the cyclone.
Another concern for farmers here is that foreign bananas could be allowed into the country to alleviate the shortfall, possibly carrying devastating fruit diseases such as black sigatoka that is found in most banana-producing countries, but not isolated Australia.
While farmers in countries with cheaper labor can cope with losses on their fields from the disease, margins in Australia, with much higher costs for workers, are so narrow that farmers here can't afford it.
Without power, workers at the farm were manually loading bunches of bananas for sorting and cleaning before being loaded in boxes and shipped to market. Unlike many crops, bananas must be handled carefully — "like eggs," Alcock said — so they don't get the bruises that deter consumers.
Alcock first started farming as a schoolboy in 1962, and said he's not planning to leave anytime soon despite the cyclone. He said he hoped to have his fields back in order by October.
"We'll get by. We survived before," he said.
thay have distorted the ecological system of the earth and now the banananas suffers 
Comment