Carnarvon fruit growers in for a tough year after stocks drastically depleted from heatwave and storm

Fans of Carnarvon bananas could be waiting as long as 18 months for stock levels to return to normal after two extreme weather events.

The region considered WA’s food bowl saw a heatwave and cyclone in as many months, and Carnarvon growers are still assessing the full impact of the two events, but expect to see long-term damage to both their crops and the fruit available in supermarkets.

Banana grower Doriana Mangili said the two events back-to-back had been “devastating” but that growers in the region were extremely resilient.

“The next couple of months are going to be really tough for our growers and for our staff, and really for the next 12 to 18 months,” she said.

“We’ve got farms within the co-op that have lost anything between 20 to 60 per cent.”

Ms Mangili said the plants impacted most by the storm were the bigger plants that they would normally be harvesting at this time of year, and as a result had fewer bananas available to package and sell.

“We’re seeing very low volumes at the moment, like we’re packing in a week what we could normally pack in a day at this time of year,” she said.

The storm on February 10, downgraded from Tropical Cyclone Mitchell as it crossed the coast, caused some growers to lose an estimated 40 to 50 per cent of their crop. Carnarvon faced gusts of wind as strong as 107km/h.

The heatwave at the end of January saw three days of temperatures above 40C, burning crops and causing fruit to drop.

Ms Mangili said extreme weather events had become regular occurrences since she started farming, and was concerned about the long-term implications for fruit stocks.

“When I first came to Carnarvon, (heatwaves) were pretty rare. We had one, I think in 2007, and then we didn’t have another one for like, five to 10 years. We seem to have had extreme heatwave every year just about, for the last three or four years,” she said.

Carnarvon experienced their hottest January day on record on January 21 this year when the mercury peaked at 47.9C.

Ms Mangili said they would be getting creative to keep their staff employed, focusing on freeze dried bananas and replanting crucial areas in March.

She encouraged everyone to support local farmers, calling it an “undervalued role”.

“We need to really value farming, because we can live without just about everything else, but we can’t live without food,” she said.