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Crops still suffering from Cyclone Larry
Australia
Thursday 20 March 2008
It's been two years since Cyclone Larry swept across Far North Queensland, flattening crops and sending banana prices to fourteen dollars a kilo.
The category four cyclone wiped out 90 per cent of Australia's bananas, but while they bounced back, other crops won't ever fully recover.
Greg O'Neill, a macadamia nut grower from Tolga on the Atherton Tablelands, says many growers decided against replanting after Larry, as it takes seven years for trees to bear nuts.
"It certainly has decimated the macadamia industry up here," he says.
"I think we've probably lost in the vicinity of close to 100,000 trees and we've probably had nearly half of our growers exit the industry since Larry.
"I've got a feeling that the risk of high wind up here is going to keep the macadamia industry pretty small."
The category four cyclone wiped out 90 per cent of Australia's bananas, but while they bounced back, other crops won't ever fully recover.
Greg O'Neill, a macadamia nut grower from Tolga on the Atherton Tablelands, says many growers decided against replanting after Larry, as it takes seven years for trees to bear nuts.
"It certainly has decimated the macadamia industry up here," he says.
"I think we've probably lost in the vicinity of close to 100,000 trees and we've probably had nearly half of our growers exit the industry since Larry.
"I've got a feeling that the risk of high wind up here is going to keep the macadamia industry pretty small."
