Cane smut spread fears aired
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Canegrowers Mackay says it is possible every cane farm in the region will be infected with smut in the next 12 months.
Chairman Paul Schembri says the fungus has been rapidly spreading and currently 200 of the region's 1,200 farms are infected.
Smut has potential to decrease yield by between 30 and 100 per cent and Mr Schembri is urging farmers to plant resilient varieties.
"What we have in play is a program to take out the susceptible varieties and replace them with obviously resistant varieties as quickly as we can. It is all about reducing the infection pressure of that disease," he said.
