Queensland's peak horticultural body Growcom has given the first indications of just how much damage Tropical Cyclone Marcia may have wrought on the state's fruit growers.

Cyclone Marcia ripped through some key fruit-growing regions in Queensland on Friday. Photo: NASA

In a release, Growcom CEO Alex Livingstone said early reports showed crops like litchis, mangoes, avocados, dragon fruit and pineapples had been destroyed near Yeppoon, along with much of the region's farming infrastructure.

"On ground reports at Yeppoon say that the cyclone has cleared a swathe through tropical fruit crops with trees uprooted and infrastructure such as sheds and irrigation systems destroyed," he said.

"Pineapple growers who have lost their crops are facing a loss of two years' income. For tree crop growers where the destroyed trees were fully mature the wait is more like five years.

"We are also concerned about the citrus industry around Gayndah where flood waters may have affected tree stocks."

Piñata Farms managing director Gavin Scurr told www.freshfruitportal.com the cyclone blew down some trees on the farm of two growers that supply the company with Honey Gold mangoes, but thankfully the season was almost finished in the Yeppoon area.

"The Keitt mangoes were yet to be harvested and they've all been lost...it's the wind that's caused issues for the mango trees. It's blown trees over and snapped off branches, and also native timber from neighboring blocks has blown over onto orchards and snapped the mango trees," he said.

"The roots are still in the ground on the bottom side, and only half the roots are exposed. They’re hoping to be able to stand them back up, brace them and see whether they can recover. But if you get any wind from the other direction, that would finish them off.

"Mangoes are 10 years before they’re in full production, so for any trees that have been lost it’s 10 years before they can get back to where they were before," he said, adding that one of the farms concerned had also lost a large portion of its custard apple trees, which are a very labor intensive crop and had harvest just around the corner in March.

He said the company's mango farm in Rockhampton got out of the event "relatively unscathed".

"It's a bit more inland than Yeppoon so the wind wasn't quite as bad, and by luck we actually ran the hedger through it a couple of weeks ago; that took all the fluffy leaves off the outside and the top, and that allowed the wind to go through it. We've got minimal damage. In fact we’re not expecting any impact on next year’s crop at all from it. We’ve got a bit of structural damage on the shed, the roller door blew in, but that’s all insured and replaceable.

"In that area they’ve still got no power and we're led to believe it could be late next week before we get power at our farm in Rockhampton, and it’s the same in Yeppoon.

"Any of the guys up there that are still harvesting are limited to what they can do because all of the grading equipment and cold rooms need electricity to operate. It's sort of lucky that most of the crop had been finished; even the pineapple crop is in a bit of a lull up in Yeppoon at the moment, so if it happened a month ago it would have had a much bigger impact," he said, adding that pineapples were fairly resistant and their main problem came from rain-related phytopthora in the plants.

Avolution CEO Antony Allen said the timing was also generally good for the litchi crop, while the event had a "silver lining" for avocado growers.

"The lychee harvest finished last week so fortunately these growers' crops have not been impacted by Cyclone Marcia. However some growers’ trees have been impacted, total longer term effects are still being worked out," Allen said.

"While there has been some loss of [avocado] fruit in the wash-up, there will be no long term effects. The heavy rain has actually improved soil moisture levels which will mean better fruit size for the season."

In the release, Livingstone said it could take time before growers would be able to inspect their properties.

"Road closures at places like Gympie will have thrown growers' harvesting schedules into disarray if transport companies have not planned alternative routes to market.

"We will not know the full story until electricity and telephone communications are restored and roads are open. Progress has been slow in this area in some parts of the region."

On a more positive note, Livingstone said the Bundaberg region appeared to have missed the worst of the conditions.

The industry leader said discussions had started with state and federal governments to find a swift response for affected growers.

"We thank the State Government for promptly providing financial assistance of [AUD]$180 per person or up to $900 for families needing urgent help under Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) in conjunction with the Federal Government. Growers should call the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349 for more information and criteria," he said.

"We are phoning members and impacted growers in the affected region to assess the damage. We have already sent out a damage assessment form to growers and the sooner we have these estimates back to government, the sooner we will be able to negotiate appropriate assistance.

"In order to expedite recovery, growers can fill out an online form (www.growcom.com.au/disaster-recovery) which can be accessed via smartphones or the internet. Alternatively, growers can call us on 07 3620 3844 and we will fill out the form for them."

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