Sunny Results For Banana Yield In Queensland With Our Innisfail Growers Program Plus Bioflora Program

We conducted a field trial of BioFlora treatments on a banana crop in Innisfail, Queensland and have found a significant increase in banana yield as well as nematode reduction, when compared to the growers program.

From February 2019 to February 2020, a 10 acre banana crop was treated with the growers standard fertilizer program; with 8 of the 10 acres treated with a nematode control chemical.

The other 2 acres were treated with a BioFlora soil program, consisting of:

• Go Isolates®: Carbon based microbial soil inoculate designed to enhance plant growth and increase decomposition of organic and inorganic materials; contains humic acid.
• Fulvex: Nanomolecule designed to increase soil flocculation; penetrant and emulsifier for greater nutrient uptake and yield.
• Sea Isolates: Natural blend of microbes and seaweed designed to enhance plant growth;
• plant regulator and plant defense.

The results of the banana yield pack-out report speak for themselves, highlighting a significant increase in banana weight and yield.

Banana Yield Packout Report
Innisfail 4th February 2020

Grower Program
21 Bunches = 510kg = average weight = 24.3/kg
449Kg packed = 23 boxes ex large @ $20.00/box
6 boxes + 14kg large @ $15.00/box

Total: 29 boxes + 14kg
Av. bunch weight packed: 21.4kg

Growers Program Plus Bioflora Program
21 Bunches = 622Kg = average weight = 29.6Kg
515Kg packed = 26 boxes +5kg ex large @ $20.00/box
8 boxes +10kg large @ $15.00/box

Total: 34 boxes + 5kg
Av. bunch weight packed: 24.5kg

The findings of our growers program with BioFlora treatment increased the average bunch weight packed by 3.1kg, which is a 14% increase.

800 bunches, per acre, per year would equate to 2480kg/acre/year, with the average return per box for extra large and large fruit being $18.70.

With an increase of 165 boxes/acre/year at $ 18.70, the total would be $3085.00/acre/year.

Bioflora costs $625.00/acre/year less Hunter for nematodes (not used) $277.00 = $348.00/acre/year.
Returns = $2737.00/acre/year.

Nematode Summary

• Increased the predatory nematodes (good ones) 9%
• Reduced the Parasitic nematodes (bad ones) 31%
  

This is compared to the growers program including 2 applications of Hunter over the 12 month period.

Because no Hunter was used in the BioFlora program, it equated to a saving of $277.20/acre/year further increasing returns per acre on the Bioflora treated area.

Our happy banana grower has shared his observations, stating the success of the BioFlora treatment due to a significant increase in banana yield as well as a suppression of nematodes in the soil.

“Since March 2019, I have been using a BioFlora program in conjunction with my standard farm fertiliser practice. One of my first observations were the plants on the BioFlora treated block were greener than the rest of my farm.

At the first yield comparison, one of the packers made an observational comment, “The last batch of bananas (BioFlora treated) that I packed were a lot heavier then the first.” This resulted in a 14% increase in packed fruit in February 2020.

Looking at the BioFlora block now, many of the plants have two suckers with the 2nd one between 1-2 meters in height. Compared to the control block which has one sucker of reasonable size with the 2nd sucker very small. The treated plants are 20+% larger and I can see we will be picking bunches quicker in the near future. Looking at both blocks, without doing counts, I would say that the BioFlora block has performed as well as the control field in suppressing the nematodes in my soil.

Overall, I am pleased with the BioFlora program being a complete success.”

If you’d like to discover more about our organic agricultural products or you want to know more about increasing banana yield, call our Brisbane-based BioFlora team on 0413 839 878.