Farmers in Australia's Far North Queensland have observed the first bunches of new bananas to emerge after Cyclone Yasi wiped out the majority of crops in February, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.

Innisfail farmer Steve Lizzio told the ABC he had put videos of his banana trees on social networking websites to track progress, naming one tree 'Isay', which is 'Yasi' spelt backwards, the story reported.

"We're going to follow the full process of the that tree, the grow status, all the way through, until that fruit is produced down to market, and hopefully auction it off to a charitable organisation, so should be a good one."

The Innisfail and Tully regions were two of the hardest hit by the cyclone, losing 95% of crops, according to Australian Banana Growers Council (ABGC) chairman Cameron Mackay.

www.freshfruitportal.com