Peak horticulture industry body Growcom said today that parts of the Queensland horticulture industry had suffered major damage following the devastation wrought by Tropical Cyclone Marcia over the weekend.

Chief Executive Officer Alex Livingstone said that while there was fortunately no loss of life or injury to horticultural growers, early reports indicated that tropical fruit crops like lychees, mangoes, avocados, dragon fruit and pineapple crops had been destroyed near Yeppoon, together with much of the region’s farming infrastructure.

“On ground reports at Yeppoon say that the cyclone has cleared a swathe through tropical fruit crops with trees uprooted and infrastructure such as sheds and irrigation systems destroyed. Pineapple growers who have lost their crops are facing a loss of two years’ income. For tree crop growers where the destroyed trees were fully mature the wait is more like five years.

“We are also concerned about the citrus industry around Gayndah where flood waters may have affected tree stocks.

“On the plus side, the Bundaberg region appears to have missed the worst of the conditions which is good news for small crop and tree crop growers in the area.

“It may be some time before growers are able to inspect their properties. Road closures at places like Gympie will have thrown growers’ harvesting schedules into disarray if transport companies have not planned alternative routes to market.

“We will not know the full story until electricity and telephone communications are restored and roads are open. Progress has been slow in this area in some parts of the region.”

Mr Livingstone said the industry had begun negotiations with federal and state levels of governments in order to obtain a swift response for the region’s affected growers.

“We thank the State Government for promptly providing financial assistance of $180 per person or up to $900 for families needing urgent help under Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) in conjunction with the Federal Government.

“We are phoning members and impacted growers in the affected region to assess the damage. We have already sent out a damage assessment form to growers and the sooner we have these estimates back to government, the sooner we will be able to negotiate appropriate assistance.

Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/