Sustainable banana farming with Matt Abbott
Publication date: 5 July 2019
Podcast
Podcast #5 from Growing Matters podcast series pilot
With a passion for growing and a thirst for knowledge, Matt Abbott is a keen Nuffield Scholar out to make a difference in Australia’s banana industry. In this podcast he shares his ideas and knowledge on sustainability, his reinvigorated way of looking at farming as a business, and a lot more.
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This research was supported by the Hort Innovation Banana Fund through the project Horticulture Nuffield Scholarships (BA14002).
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About the speaker
Matt Abbott
Rabbit Organics, Mena Creek, QLD
Organic and sustainable farming is front-of-mind for banana grower Matt Abbott and his team at Rabbit Organics.
“It is a core value of our business. We believe in our product and that our job as farmers is to provide good, healthy, nutritious food, through sustainable practices.”
Matt received a scholarship through the Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars program in 2016.
“The scholarship has only just started but I’m already applying valuable information, like the need to be more united as an industry, with other industries and to learn from each other.”
As part of his scholarship, Matt travelled to Ireland for the 2016 Contemporary Scholars Conference.
“This was a life-changing experience. It focused on personal development, exposing us to a snapshot of agriculture from around the world and providing us with the skills and contacts to make the most of our scholarship,” he says.
After seven years as a carpenter, Matt decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a banana grower.
“I had to get a trade before working on the farm, so I did but farming was in my blood; I couldn’t stay away.”
Rabbit Organics in Mena Creek, Northern Queensland, specialises in organic Cavendish bananas.
Podcast transcript
Act now
- View the related project Horticulture Nuffield Scholarships (BA14002)
- Learn more about Nuffield Scholarships at the Nuffield Australia website
- Search and find content related to sustainability on this website
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About the Growing Matters pilot podcast series
Hort Innovation's Growing Matters is a podcast series bringing you tangible information through easy-to-access audio that aims to help you on farm and to grow your business.
In the pilot series, growers, Nuffield Scholars, researchers and subject matter experts talk about protected cropping, waste management and sustainability.