“I urge growers to stay committed and maintain their on-farm biosecurity measures to protect and prepare their farms from Panama disease,” he said.

“The rigorous biosecurity protocols implemented by Biosecurity Queensland to control and contain the disease are underpinned by world class scientific methods, and are proven to be the most effective methods to mitigate the spread of the disease.

“As the new detection is in the same geographical location as the previous two infested farms, we are confident that our containment measures have been effective so far.

“Queensland has had greater success in controlling and containing the disease compared with anywhere else in the world.”

Minister Furner said the banana industry was the life blood of Far North Queensland and the commitment to the region remains steadfast.

He attributed minimal farm downtime on the third infested property to a prompt response by Biosecurity Queensland officers and the farm already having an established on-farm biosecurity plan.

“Once the farm was suspected of having Panama TR4, Biosecurity Queensland staff worked closely with the business owner to implement additional measures so they could meet their biosecurity obligations,” he said.

“The farm was trading again after only a few days of downtime and the department will continue to support the business owner to trade and meet their ongoing biosecurity obligations during this challenging time.

“High intensity surveillance is continuing on the property to determine the possible extent of the disease, and tracing and on-farm  investigations are underway to determine the risk of disease spread through items such as shared machinery and equipment or planting material.”

Panama TR4 is not harmful to humans and does not affect the fruit. Bananas are Australia’s number one selling supermarket product and are still enjoyed by consumers.