ISSUE 50: AUG 2019
 
   
   
     
  Final Announcement for ISTF 2019 has been released  
     
 

The Final Announcement for ISTF 2019 has been released to delegates and participants, which includes updates on the tentative symposium program.

The 2019 International Symposium on Tropical Fruits (ISTF 2019) will be held at the Liberty Central Saigon Riverside Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 24-26 September, organized by the International Tropical Fruits Network (TFNet) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), with the support of the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute (FAVRI) and the Southern Horticultural Research Institute (SOFRI).

For more information on the venue, registration fees, and important dates, visit www.itfnet.org/istf2019

 
     
   
       
           
  Australian Achacha growers join ISTF 2019     (UPDATE) Workshop on dragon fruit marketing and value chain to be held in Vietnam  
         
  Bruce and Helen Hill, owners of Achacha Fruit Plantations (AFP), are the newest ordinary members of TFNet. AFP is the first and the largest large scale commercial achacha operation in the world, located in Queensland.     The tentative program for the international workshop on Dragon fruit Network (DFNet): Marketing and the Whole Value Chain to be held on September 9-10 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is now available.  
           
 

BDS releases a book on sustainable cultivation of tropical fruits on August 23

Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing (BDS), an associate member of TFNet, released the new book Achieving sustainable cultivation of tropical fruits on August 23, edited by Professor Elhadi M. Yahia.

    
UPCOMING TFNET ACTIVITES
 
       
         
     

13th Session of the TFNet Board of Trustees  
Venue: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Date: 23 September 2019

2019 International Symposium on Tropical Fruits 
Venue: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Date: 24-26 September 2019

Workshop on Banana Fusarium Wilt 
Venue: Guangzhou, China
Date: TBA 2019 

  
           
 
TROPICAL FRUIT NEWS FROM TFNET COUNTRY MEMBERS
 
   
           
  AUSTRALIA: Flies could be ‘the new bees’ as researchers try to diversify pollinators     INDIA: Smartphone app uses AI to detect diseased bananas  
       
  University of Western Sydney researcher Jonathan Finch has been placing fish carcasses across a large commercial mango orchard near Katherine in the Northern Territory in the hope of studying fly pollination behavior.     A research project has brought together artificial intelligence, satellites, cloud computing and the internet of things (IoT) to help farmers detect diseased bananas using a smartphone app.  
               
  VIETNAM: Fruit exports to China drop     INDIA: Mango exports to Italy via sea route to cut transport cost  
       
  Vietnam exported USD 144.2 million worth of fruits and vegetables to China in July, down 44.2 percent from last year.     In order to promote exports from north India and cut transportation cost, a trial shipment of 10 tonnes of mangoes was sent by sea from the state of Uttar Pradesh to Italy.  
               
  INDONESIA: Trade deal signed with Mozambique to lower their agricultural tariff barriers, including fruits     PHILIPPINES: Research showcases bioplastic made out of mango peelings and seaweed  
       
 

Mozambique and Indonesia signed a new preferential trade agreement (PTA) to lower their tariff barriers, the Indonesian Ministry of Trade announced.

     Denxybel Montinola, 23, a graduate of Bachelor in Science in Applied Physics of the University of San Carlos (USC) is showcasing his bioplastic derived from mango peels and seaweed  
               
  VIETNAM: Longan conquers Australia market     AUSTRALIA: TR4 spreads across infested banana farms  
       
 

The Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has recently announced the conditions for importing fresh longan from Vietnam to Australia, according to the Vietnam Trade Office.

     The banana disease Fusarium wilt Tropical Race IV (TR4) has spread on three farms in Queensland, Australia, since the initial 2015 detection.  
               
  FIJI: Agriculture Ministry to establish more fruit orchards     PHILIPPINES: Japan rejects banana shipment from the Philippines due to high chemical residues  
       
  Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Mahendra Reddy says that they are working towards having more fruit orchards in the future so that the fruit market can be exploited.     Japan has reported yet another breach of its quarantine regulation by a banana shipper from the Philippines in July, raising apprehension anew that Tokyo may impose stricter measures against Philippine banana shipments.  
               
  BANGLADESH: Floating guava markets drawing large crowd     BANGLADESH: Mangoes make money, farmers abandon rice  
           
  Monsoon is the time when floating guava markets on canals crisscrossing thousands of guava orchards, in Jhalakathi’s Bhimruli and Pirojpur’s Atghar Kuriana under Nesarabad upazila, become alive with visitors from all over the country.     Farmers in Northern Bangladesh are abandoning rice due to high production and harvesting costs, drought, high input costs, and unfavorable weather.  
             
 
TROPICAL FRUIT NEWS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
 
   
               
  BELIZE: BAHA takes precautionary measures against disease affecting banana farms     EVENT: Asia Fruit Logistica to push ahead in September as planned  
           
 

The Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA), the Ministry of Agriculture, and partner organizations have met with stakeholders in the banana industry and are discussing a comprehensive strategy to keep the disease out of Belize.

    Organizers of the Asia Fruit Logistica 2019 announced in their website that the event will take place as planned on 4-6 September 2019, with Asiafruit Congress on 3 September 2019.  
               
  STUDY: Greening devastates the citrus industry: New research offers a solution     USA: Lawmakers urge EPA to rethink use of antibiotics on citrus trees  
       
  Researchers from the Citrus Research and Education Center of the University of Florida developed a strategy for early diagnosis of HLB.     US lawmakers are urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to rethink its position on the use of two medically important antibiotics to treat a disease affecting citrus production.  
               
  COLOMBIA: Dreaded fungus confirmed to hit banana plantations     TURKEY: Tropical fruits new alternative for farmers  
       
  Colombia has declared a national state of emergency following confirmation that a dread fungus has appeared in the country’s banana plantations.      On top of the avocados, kiwis and cape gooseberries they are already growing, Turkish farmers continue to lean toward new alternatives, producing different types of tropical fruit that can easily adapt to the Mediterranean region.  
               
  USA: FDA calls on papaya industry to re-examine food safety practices     PAKISTAN: Mango farmers count on China-ties for fruitful future  
       
  The Food and Drug Administration, citing eight foodborne illness outbreaks linked to papayas since 2011, has alerted all handlers of the fruit that repeated outbreaks are unacceptable and the industry must take action to step up food safety efforts.     Mango farmers in Pakistan are hoping that projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) can help boost the export industry.