Skip links and keyboard navigation

Meringa Sugar Experiment Station

71378 Bruce Highway Meringa, Gordonvale

Remove favourite

Entomologist's Residence (Queensland Government, 2013); Heritage Branch

Entomologist's Residence (Queensland Government, 2013)

Office and Laboratory Building (Queensland Government, 2013); Heritage Branch

Office and Laboratory Building (Queensland Government, 2013)

Office, Workshop, and Lecture Building (Queensland Government, 2013); Heritage Branch

Office, Workshop, and Lecture Building (Queensland Government, 2013)

Glasshouse (Queensland Government, 2013); Heritage Branch

Glasshouse (Queensland Government, 2013)

Implement and Tractor Shed, and Stables Building (Queensland Government, 2013); Heritage Branch

Implement and Tractor Shed, and Stables Building (Queensland Government, 2013)

Site Plan (Queensland Government, 2022); Heritage Branch Staff

Site Plan (Queensland Government, 2022)

Site Plan Detail (Queensland Government, 2022); Heritage Branch Staff

Site Plan Detail (Queensland Government, 2022)

Heritage register boundary map (Queensland Government, 2022); Heritage branch; DES

Heritage register boundary map (Queensland Government, 2022)

The Meringa Sugar Experiment Station (SES), hidden amongst an oasis of mature trees, has a controversial past. The station bred cane toads for release in 1935, in an effort to control the cane beetles. Unfortunately, despite attempts by the Commonwealth to stop the release, a Queensland politician championed the cane toad, resulting in this pest spreading across Queensland and into the Northern Territory. Initially established in 1917 as an entomological station investigating insect pests, the Meringa SES has housed research into disease-resistance, farming techniques, and technological innovation. One of its most successful ventures in the mid-1940s was the experiments with benzene hexachloride, known as ‘gammexane’ which proved to be effective in controlling the greyback grub. It was also a sugar cane breeding facility. In the 1930s, glasshouses were built to propagate cane seedlings and 300 varieties were in cultivation by 1950. The Bureau of Sugar Experimentation had a number of similar facilities throughout the state, but Meringa remains the most significant major plant breeding station for the Australian Sugar Industry.

Featured in this trail:

Coordinates: -17.06833597, 145.7738569

Full details of this heritage-registered place are in the Heritage register.

My favourites

View favourites list (1 favourites)

Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Last reviewed
1 July 2022
Last updated
28 February 2023