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6-8 August, 2025
RACV Royal Pines Resort
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Program

The Australian Banana Industry Congress will bring together more than 450 members of the industry including banana growers, researchers, representatives from the supply chain and retailers, as a host of other key groups critical to the Australian banana industry ecosystem. 

The event will cover the latest in research and development and industry news. Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of that conversation! 

In 2025, you can expect a renewed sense of purpose for the whole event and new ways of tackling key issues facing the industry. Watch this space!

DOWNLOAD PDF PROGRAM

The congress program is subject to change. 

Time Wednesday 6 August 2025
0730
REGISTRATION
0830-1630
Science Symposium
TBC
Site Tours
1730-1930 Welcome Reception
0830-1630
Science Symposium
Tea and coffee on arrival
0845-1015
SESSION 1

Welcome and introduction
1015-1040
Morning tea
1040-1135
SESSION 2
1135-1225
SESSION 3
1225-1325
Lunch
1325-1420
SESSION 4
1420-1505
SESSION 5
1505-1520
Afternoon tea
Time Thursday 7 August 2025
0700
REGISTRATION
0715-0800
Sponsored Breakfast
0730
Tea, coffee and tradeshow open
0830-1700
Banana Congress Day 1
1730 Tradeshow Exhibition Evening
1730-1930 Tradeshow Exhibition Evening
Time Thursday 7 August 2025
0700
REGISTRATION
0715-0800
SPONSORED BREAKAST 1
*Registration required
0730
Tea and coffee open
0830-0845
Opening ceremony & official congress opening

Leanne Erakovic, ABGC CEO
0845-1000
SESSION 1
1000-1030
Morning tea
1030-1200
SESSION 2
1200-1400
Lunch break
Lunch served in the exhibition area
Banana Women's Luncheon
1400-1500
SESSION 3
1500-1540
TBC
1540-1610
Afternoon tea & Science Poster Session
1610-1700
SESSION 4
Time Friday 8 August 2025
0700
REGISTRATION
0730
Tea, coffee and tradeshow open
0830-1530
Banana Congress Day 2
Time Friday 8 August 2025
0700
REGISTRATION
0730
Tea and coffee open
0830-1000
SESSION 5
MC welcome to congress day 2
1000-1030
Morning tea
1030-1200
SESSION 6
1200-1400
Lunch break
Lunch served in the exhibition area
1400-1520
SESSION 7
1520-1530
Closing address
Paul Inderbitzin, Congress Chair
1540-1610
Afternoon tea & Science Poster Session
1900 Banana Industry Ball & Awards of Honour

PROGRAM AT A GLANCE

The congress program is subject to change. 

  • 0800-0900

Registration

Science Symposium

Add-on to registration| 0830-1700

Tea and coffee served on arrival

  • 0845-1015
  • Pullman Reef Casino

Integrated pest and disease management

The future of IPDM in bananas
Kathy Grice, David East & Richard Piper

Insect sanctuaries for Beneficial Predators and Parasites in Bananas
Daniel Farrell

Extension – The value of putting grower collaboration at the heart of project design and delivery.
Tegan Cavallaro

Bunch pest management, investigating practices to maximise efficacy and stewardship of registered chemistries
Ingrid Jenkins

  • 1015-1040
  • Pullman Reef Casino

Morning tea

  • 1040-1200
  • Pullman Reef Casino

Progress in banana diagnostics and disease detection

Keeping bananas healthy
Andre Drenth

Novel assay to detect Ralstonia solanacearum causing Moko disease in banana
Lilia Carvalhais

A lateral flow immunoassay for the in-field detection of banana bunchy top virus
John Thomas

BBTV-infected plants are infectious earlier than previously thought!
Kathy Crew

Improved varieties for Australian banana growers

Identifying Sources of Resistance to Fusarium Wilt
Elizabeth Aitken

New varieties for Australian banana growers
Jeff Daniells

Are we approaching Goldfinger’s golden era?
Katelyn Robertson

Pre-commercialisation Trials For New Banana Varieties – A Crucial Step in the Variety Development Pipeline
Stewart Lindsay

  • 1225-1325
  • Pullman Reef Casino

Lunch

  • 1325-1505
  • Pullman Reef Casino

Enhancing agronomic and environmental sustainability

Phosphorus trial results and observations
Alex Lindsay

Variation in nitrogen content in banana leaves
Catherine Chung

Direct and indirect effects of herbicide, on banana soil microbial diversity and function
Tony Pattison

Banana Yield Mapping
Shannon Byrnes

Minimising waste bananas

Banana supply chain monitoring and simulation identifies critical control points
Andrew Macnish

Banana action plan: How to minimise food waste?
Delwar Akbar

Exploring the Potential of Bananas as a Natural Source of Sleep- Inducing Compounds: Tryptophan and Melatonin
Mengdi Wu

  • 1505-1520
  • Pullman Reef Casino

Afternoon tea

  • 1520-1630
  • Pullman Reef Casino

Reducing the impact of Tropical Race 4

EFS – suppression of TR4 is now possible
Vu Nguyen

Woodchip amendment can alter banana soil microbial abundance and disease suppressive potential
Hazel Gaza

Uncovering soil microbial interactions during the destruction of Panama disease infected banana plants
Tony Pattison

Welcome Reception

Included in registration | 1700-1900

Pullman Reef Casino

Proudly supported by APP

Registration

Tea and coffee stations open from 0730

  • 0830-0845
  • Auditorium B&C

Opening ceremony & official congress opening

Leanne Erakovic, ABGC CEO

  • 0845-1000
  • Auditorium B&C

Plenary session

Comedian
Jimeoin

Arcella Banana Company

A smart vision for a sustainable future: SMaRT technologies and MICROfactories™ creating sustainable materials and products from waste

International recognised materials scientist, engineer and inventor revolutionising recycling science


Prof Veena Sahajwalla

Ritchies Plastics

William Ritchie   William Ritchie

  • 1000-1030
  • Exhibition arena

Morning tea

Enjoy morning tea in the exhibition area and celebrate Banana BMP’s 10th birthday (Booth 41).

  • 1030-1100
  • Auditorium B&C

Plenary session

Emma Germano

Industry Advocacy – Are we going Bananas?
Emma Germano
VFF President and former Nuttfield scholar

  • 1100-1200
  • Auditorium B&C

Retail Panel

Understanding the customer and the current retail climate
Cara Reynolds
Category Manager for Ripened Fruit, Woolworths

Richard Clayton
Managing Director, Australian Produce Partners

Andrew Burns
ABGC Supply Chain Engagement Manager

Moderated by Paul Inderbitzin, Congress Chair, ABGC Director and grower

  • 1200-1400
  • Exhibition arena

Lunch break

Enjoy lunch in the exhibition area. 

Banana Women's Luncheon

Registration required to attend

Proudly supported by Pakall
  • 1400-1500
  • Auditorium B+C

Plenary session

Global robotic advances in tree cropping

  Professor Salah Sukkarieh

Arcella Banana Company

TR4 Transition to industry

Rhiannon Evans, BQ

Leanne Erakovic, CEO ABGC

  • 1500-1540
  • Auditorium B+C

Science Poster Pitches

Consider this your crash course in Banana R&D. 

A fast paced, dynamic session where banana researchers have just 60 seconds to update you on the work presented in their scientific posters.

View Science Posters

  • 1540-1610
  • Exhibition arena

Afternoon tea and Science Poster session

View Science Posters

  • 1610-1700
  • Auditorium B+C

Banana R&D Panel

Knowledge and challenges for the development of agroecology in the banana sector

Philippe Tixier

Philippe Tixier
Ecologist/agronomist, French Agricultural REsearch CEntre for International Development (CIRAD)

The future of IPDM in bananas

Kathy Grice

Kathy Grice, DAF

TR4 resistant bananas on the horizon – near and far

 Jeff Daniells, DAF

Tradeshow Exhibition Evening

Included in registration | 1730-1930

Exhibition arena, Cairns Convention an Exhibition Centre

Costa: well grown
Proudly supported by Banana Exchange Pty Ltd (Costa Group)

Registration

Tea and coffee stations open from 0730

  • 0715-0815
  • Meeting room 1

ABGC Members-only Grower Meeting

*Pre-registration is required

  • 0830-1000
  • Auditorium B&C

Driving demand for the banana industry

Hort Innovation Update
Brett Fifield, Chief Executive Officer, Hort Innovation
Australian Bananas Market Overview
NielsenIQ
Transforming the Australian Bananas Marketing Program
Jane Smith, General Manager of Marketing, Hort Innovation, Gillian Reilly, Head of Consumer Marketing, Hort Innovation, Andre Krogh, Head of Customer Marketing, Hort Innovation
and Belinda Van Schaik, Marketing Manager, Hort Innovation
Marketing Panel facilitated by Doriana Mangili, ABGC Board Director
Panel members: Daniel Mackay, Mackays Marketing, Jane Smith, General Manager of Marketing, Hort Innovation and Belinda Van Schaik, Marketing Manager, Hort Innovation
  • 1000-1030
  • Exhibition arena

Morning tea

  • 1030-1200
  • Auditorium B&C

Plenary session

You’re growing, not going, Bananas

  John Harper, Mental HealthA wheat/sheep farmer John Harper sitting on a cut tree log in the early morning sun, his machinery behind him.

You too can Climb a Ladder! – to become a better parent, a better partner – a better YOU. 

Trevor Farmer, Co-founder of TopcatzA fearless and clever entrepreneur, Trevor Farmer stands in a paddock with warm sunshine rays and a welcoming smile

  • 1200-1400
  • Exhibition arena

Lunch break

Enjoy lunch in the exhibition area

  • 1400-1420
  • Auditorium B&C

TR4 Panel

Tully Growers; Stephan Lowe, Warwick Flegler, and Paul Johnston

  • 1420-1435
  • Auditorium B&C

Local and global plastics landscape for bananas
Marc Jackson

  • 1435-1530
  • Auditorium B&C

Innovation Panel & Closing ceremony

Biological Bunch Pest Management Control Trial

Frank Sciacca, Innisfail Grower
Richard Piper, DAF

Farm in ONE App

Michael Russo, Innisfail Grower
Fabian Gallo, Farm in ONE

Advanced Data Analytics to Improve Environmental Performance

Gavin Devaney, (Innisfail Grower)
Dallas Gibb, Hitachi Vantara
Liam Southam-Rogers, Applied Horticultural Research

Closing ceremony

Paul Inderbitzin, Congress Chair, ABGC Director and grower

Banana Industry Ball and Awards of Honour

Included in registration | 1900-late

Auditorium A & D, Cairns Convention & Exhibition Centre

Visy: For a better world
Proudly supported by Visy

Keep me updated

Organisers

MCI Australia

Australian Banana Growers' Council

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Major Partner

Australian Produce Partners

Partnering with Australian fresh food producers to help grow, package, distribute and promote, fresh produce to market

Contact
  • Contact Name
Associate Partner

Arcella Banana Company

Arcella Banana Company and its growing arm Tropicana Banana are proudly 100% Australian family owned and operated. With over 40 years’ experience, we are passionate about all facets of bananas. We are committed in investing in the future of the Australian banana industry.

We strive to provide growers with the best service and ensure that retailers receive the best quality bananas 52 weeks of the year.

Contact
Supporting Partner

Pakall

Pakall Pty Ltd as a business was originally started by Roger and Beverly Paynter at West End Brisbane in 1974. After a humble beginning selling general packaging, Pakall soon moved business to Sumner Park in 1982. A polyethylene extrusion plant was immediately established at these premises. This move into extrusion allowed Pakall to grow and specialise in food and flexible packaging and to develop the area of general packaging as well. In 2012 Pakall moved to our newer and bigger premises at Acacia Ridge, Brisbane. Having this facility has allowed us to expand into multilayer films and barrier products.

Pakall Pty Ltd is still a family owned company and one of the only vertically integrated plastics companies in Australia. After 40+ years we still pride ourselves on selling only quality packaging materials as well as providing a level of service that only comes with a family owned business. We have attained the ‘ISO 9001’ as well as the ‘ECO’ ratings and HACCP certification, and are proud  members of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO).

The company specialises in a wide range of packaging products. Please do not hesitate to contact one of our customer service officers to discuss your packaging requirements.

Contact
Associate Partner

Costa Group

Costa: well grown

Costa’s exceptional quality Cavendish and Lady Finger bananas are enjoyed around the country. Our delicious bananas are grown all year round in the ideal climates of Tully and Walkamin on the Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland. We grow them so you can enjoy them every day of the year. Costa adopts sustainable farming with a specific emphasis upon protecting the Great Barrier Reef. We know fallowing, planting, fertilisation and the use of chemicals all affect the health of the soil, the plants and, crucially, the fruit. We stick to best practice regimes to ensure we can continually provide the best-quality eating bananas. In addition to our strict farming practices, we maintain strict post-harvest procedures including packing, storage, transport, ripening and dispatch. This ensures our bananas remain at optimum condition until the moment they are enjoyed by the end consumer.

Contact
Foundation Partner & Gala Dinner

VISY

2019 Partner - VISY

Partnering with you for a better world. Visy is delighted to be a longstanding foundation partner of the Australian Banana Industry Congress, supporting the sector’s growers and stakeholders to meet their goals. As a global leader in packaging and resource recovery, we are able to offer you a full range of innovative packaging and automation solutions, including fibre options, pallets, banana bags and packing shed technology. Sustainability sits at the centre of our operating model and we are committed to helping you reach your own sustainability goals. Together we can create solutions that meet the growing consumer demand for environmentally responsible packaging and make a significant contribution to sustainability for the wider community. We are proudly Australian owned, and our large, local footprint ensures we can offer you more flexibility, greater reliability and faster speed to market. All while providing local jobs and strengthening the Australian manufacturing industry.

Call 13 VISY or visit www.visy.com.au to find out how we can work together to help you reach your goals.

Contact

Science Poster Panel

Paper # Presenter Abstract Submission Title Presenting at Science
Poster Panel
1
Elizabeth Aitken
Identifying Sources of Resistance to Fusarium Wilt
✅
2
Delwar Akbar
Banana action plan: How to minimise food waste?
✅
3
Molly Blake
Understanding inter-row ground cover in the Wet Tropics Banana farming region
✅
4
Shannon Byrnes
Banana Yield Mapping
✅
5
Lilia Carvalhais
Novel assay to detect Ralstonia solanacearum causing Moko disease in banana
✅
6
Tegan Cavallaro
Extension – The value of putting grower collaboration at the heart of project design and delivery.
✅
7
Ingrid Jenkins
Bunch pest management, investigating practices to maximise efficacy and stewardship of registered chemistries
✅
8
John Thomas
A lateral flow immunoassay for the in-field detection of banana bunchy top virus
✅
9
Kathy Crew
BBTV-infected plants are infectious earlier than previously thought!
✅
10
Andre Drenth
Keeping bananas healthy
✅
11
David East
Chemical control of yellow Sigatoka
✅
12
Paul Edwards
Cavendish Banana production management using plant growth regulators
✅
13
Daniel Farrell
Insect sanctuaries for Beneficial Predators and Parasites in Bananas
✅
14
Daniel Farrell
Using Beneficial Mites to Control Banana Spider Mites
✅
15
Kathy Grice
Is deleafing critical in the management of yellow Sigatoka?
✅
16
Alex Lindsay
The banana nutrient rates trial project
✅
17
Andrew Macnish
Banana supply chain monitoring and simulation identifies critical control points
✅
18
Thu Ha Ngo
Diagnosis of Panama TR4 in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 for NATA accreditation
✅
19
Vu Nguyen
EFS - suppression of TR4 is now possible
✅
20
Cecilia O'Dwyer
Development and validation of diagnostic assays for detection of phytoplasmas infecting banana
⨯
21
Tony Pattison
Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help with Panama disease decision making
✅
22
Richard Piper
Entomopathogens for banana bunch pest control.
✅
23
Emily Rames
Diverse banana germplasm to support industry development
✅
24
Janet Roberts
Pathology and Ecology of Fusarium Wilt Subtropical Race 4
⨯
25
Katelyn Robertson
Are we approaching Goldfinger’s golden era?
✅
26
Visnja Steele
Virus diagnostics support movement of clean planting material
⨯

Science Poster Panel

Paper # Presenter Abstract Submission Title Presenting at Science
Poster Panel
1
Elizabeth Aitken
Identifying Sources of Resistance to Fusarium Wilt
✅
2
Delwar Akbar
Banana action plan: How to minimise food waste?
✅
3
Molly Blake
Understanding inter-row ground cover in the Wet Tropics Banana farming region
✅
4
Shannon Byrnes
Banana Yield Mapping
✅
5
Lilia Carvalhais
Novel assay to detect Ralstonia solanacearum causing Moko disease in banana
✅
6
Tegan Cavallaro
Extension – The value of putting grower collaboration at the heart of project design and delivery.
✅
7
Ingrid Jenkins
Bunch pest management, investigating practices to maximise efficacy and stewardship of registered chemistries
✅
8
John Thomas
A lateral flow immunoassay for the in-field detection of banana bunchy top virus
✅
9
Kathy Crew
BBTV-infected plants are infectious earlier than previously thought!
✅
10
Andre Drenth
Keeping bananas healthy
✅
11
David East
Chemical control of yellow Sigatoka
✅
12
Paul Edwards
Cavendish Banana production management using plant growth regulators
✅
13
Daniel Farrell
Insect sanctuaries for Beneficial Predators and Parasites in Bananas
✅
14
Daniel Farrell
Using Beneficial Mites to Control Banana Spider Mites
✅
15
Kathy Grice
Is deleafing critical in the management of yellow Sigatoka?
✅
16
Alex Lindsay
The banana nutrient rates trial project
✅
17
Andrew Macnish
Banana supply chain monitoring and simulation identifies critical control points
✅
18
Thu Ha Ngo
Diagnosis of Panama TR4 in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 for NATA accreditation
✅
19
Vu Nguyen
EFS - suppression of TR4 is now possible
✅
20
Cecilia O'Dwyer
Development and validation of diagnostic assays for detection of phytoplasmas infecting banana
⨯
21
Tony Pattison
Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help with Panama disease decision making
✅
22
Richard Piper
Entomopathogens for banana bunch pest control.
✅
23
Emily Rames
Diverse banana germplasm to support industry development
✅
24
Janet Roberts
Pathology and Ecology of Fusarium Wilt Subtropical Race 4
⨯
25
Katelyn Robertson
Are we approaching Goldfinger’s golden era?
✅
26
Visnja Steele
Virus diagnostics support movement of clean planting material
⨯