September 2015 (Page 3)

Costa Rican pineapple exports were significantly lower in the first half of 2015 over the previous year, with adverse weather and unfavorable exchange rates likely contributing to the decline.   The Central American country shipped 15% less of the tropical fruit between January and June year-on-year, to reach total volumesContinue Reading

Mexican authorities claim a new norm for fighting Moko disease without methyl bromide will improve public health and disease control.   In a release, the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) said the new Official Mexican Rule NOM-068-SAG/FITO-2015 aimed to update techniques for fighting the disease, modifying a ruleContinue Reading

by Imran Khan, Bilkul Online   Aiming to conserve and improve the quality of litchis, the sweet and juicy summer fruit has acquired its first field gene bank in India – and possibly in the world – in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, renowned for its ‘shahi’ (kingly) variety.   “After approval fromContinue Reading

by Fiona Pepper and Bridget Fitzgerald, abc.net.au   For thousands of years charcoal or biochar has been added to soil to increase fertility and water retention.     The Denmark Biochar group in the Western Australia’s south-west is convinced of the benefits to soil, and is developing kilns to createContinue Reading

by Sasha Gonzales, South China Morning Post   It’s durian season, and that means an abundance of the spiky green fruit with the thick and creamy, custard-like flesh. Some people can stop eating at just one or two seeds, but for diehard durian fans, there is no such thing as enoughContinue Reading

by Charlie McKillop, abc.net.au   A lot has changed in the six months since the soil disease, Panama tropical race 4 (TR4), was found in the Tully Valley in the banana production heartland of far north Queensland.     Fences have gone up, signs erected warning the public not to enterContinue Reading

Mission Produce Inc. in Oxnard, CA, has exported the first-ever container of fresh avocados from Peru to China. The load was grown on Mission-owned ranches in Peru, and packed at Mission’s Avocado Packing facility in Chao, Peru.   This first shipment left the port of Paita, Peru, and will arriveContinue Reading

IG International has began its first ever import campaign shipping New Zealand-grown avocados to India.   Arriving airfreight in Mumbai, this is the inaugural avocado consignment to be marketed by IG International Pvt, Ltd, one of the country’s leading fresh fruit and vegetable import-export companies.   Imported from Delica Ltd,Continue Reading

by Gokul Rajendran, Times of India   Taking the research on banana forward, the National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB), Trichy, is working on a project to bring out an ‘iron-rich banana’ variety. The centre is roping in farmers to adopt the latest technology to achieve profit in the cultivationContinue Reading

by Katie Kenny, stuff.co.nz   One supermarket has found a creative solution to the banana shortage in fobbing off its baked goods.   Packets of banana bread were spotted beneath a sign for “loose bananas” at Countdown in Newtown, Wellington, this week.     The fruit is in short supplyContinue Reading

by Deepthi Sanjiv, Bangalore Mirror Bureau   Thirty-one-year-old Anil Balanja from Belthangady Taluk of Dakshina Kannada district who has grown over 500 varieties of fruits in his farm was felicitated by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research and Central Horticultural Experiment Station for collection and conservation of garcinia species at MadikeriContinue Reading