September 2012 (Page 2)

Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) Edita A. Dacuycuy, hailed as the “dragon fruit lady of the north”, once again shares her formula for success. In a technology field day held in her farm in Barangay Paayas, Burgos, Ilocos Norte, MS Dacuycuy narrated why she started her dragon fruit production ── for herContinue Reading

The tiny, rock-hard fruits of Pollia condensata, a wild plant that grows in the forests of Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania and other African countries, can’t be eaten raw, cooked or turned into a beverage. In Western Uganda and elsewhere, though, the plant’s small metallic fruits have long been used for decorativeContinue Reading

Boonma Meekana has lung cancer. After undergoing 17 rounds of chemotherapy treatment his children were told their father would not live more than three days. “My condition got much worse. I became so weak physically I could do nothing but lie in bed all the time,” recalled Boonma. A nativeContinue Reading

A few months ago, Eric Helms, the 42-year-old founder and chief executive officer of Juice Generation, a chain of juice and smoothie bars in New York City, wanted to display what he calls “the next big superfruit” in his stores. Having bought exclusive import rights to a year’s supply ofContinue Reading

The 22nd Annual Hawaii International Tropical Fruit Conference kicks off September 13-16 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus on Oahu and continues with a free mini gathering on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. Open to the public and presented by the statewide Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers (HTFG),Continue Reading

A recall of potentially salmonella-tainted mangoes from Mexico may have involved as many as 900,000 pieces of the tropical fruit. The Daniella-brand mangoes were grown and harvested in Mexico and sold in the United States between July 12 and Aug. 29, Splendid Products spokesman Ernest DelBuono said. The mangoes wereContinue Reading

Tropical fruit supplier Fyffes has warned of higher banana and pineapple prices due to rising fuel costs and adverse exchange rates. The warning came as the group posted a pre-tax profit of 22.4m euros (£17.7m) in the first six months of the year, up nearly 30% from a year earlier.Continue Reading

Beijing: Even as only a thin Chinese belt experiences tropical weather, the technology it uses to grow and process tropical fruit may contribute to the country’s thriving cooperation with Africa, Xinhua reported. China is ready to aid the largely tropical continent using relevant technology, said the country’s experts during anContinue Reading

Asian fruit growers exporting to Australia and New Zealand are overtaking their Pacific competitors. Cook Islands was once the biggest exporter of paw paw to New Zealand, but has been pushed out of the market by dynamic companies from the Philippines. Last year, the Philippines exported $NZ1.4 million worth ofContinue Reading

THE Biosecurity Authority of Fiji (BAF) is advising people to contact its nearest office if they find any unusual signs or diseases on their papaya plants. This follows the discovery of a papaya disorder in certain backyard gardens and farms in the Sigatoka area last week. Authority CEO Elvis SilvestriniContinue Reading

The melon and watermelon production in the Spanish region of Almeria has totalled over 480,000 tons but its value has dropped due to increased competition from Greece, Italy, Turkey and other Spanish regions. Watermelon production this season was around 350,000 tonnes, meaning a significant increase over 2011 by 16.9 percent,Continue Reading