February 2016 (Page 3)

On Friday 12 February, a Nagpur-based company, Merchandise Venture Private Limited, exported a sample container of bananas to Iran. The company states that it is the first ever shipment of this fruit grown in Vidarbha to a foreign destination.   Dharmendra Sharma the company’s CEO said this was the sampleContinue Reading

by Fresh Plaza,   The banana production in Uraba, intended for export to the U.S. and Europe, will fall by at least five million cases in the first half of the year.   This warning was raised by Juan Camilo Restrepo, president of the Association of Banana Growers of Colombia,Continue Reading

by M P Saravanan, News Today Net     Right from the days of former Chief Minister-writer C N Annadurai, sevvazhai (red bananas) have been out of reach for the common public. Refer his story by the same name Sevvazhai, where a farm coolie raises a red banana plant in hisContinue Reading

by Jenifer Jost, Off The Grid News   If you have south-facing windows and extra space inside, growing tropical fruits in pots is a viable option for diversifying your food sources, even during the winter.   While some varieties have been developed to withstand winter outdoors as far north as zoneContinue Reading

by Carl Collen, Fruitnet   The February forecast for this season’s Florida citrus crop remained steady for oranges and dipped slightly for grapefruit, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).   The report estimates a 69m-box season for Florida oranges, a number consistentContinue Reading

by Matthew Jones, Fruitnet   Aselection of the world’s leading avocado producing nations has moved to form the first global entity for the offering, known as the World Avocado Organisation (WAO).   The new body will promote the consumption of avocados across Europe, Asia and other parts of the world throughContinue Reading

by Gabrielle Easter, Fruitnet   Avocados are in short supply in New Zealand following last year’s bumper crop and a cold spring that have seen export volumes drop by 40 per cent.   The smaller volume of avocados has seen prices jump on the domestic market, though despite the increase inContinue Reading

by Arlie Felton-Taylor, ABC Rural   Growers on the western Darling Downs are finally picking and sending watermelons to market after a horrific season.   Late last year multiple hail storms wrecked a significant number of crops, with some growers facing a total wipeout in some paddocks around Chinchilla.   Grower IanContinue Reading

by Matt Brann, ABC Rural     The Northern Territory’s pomelo harvest has started just in time for the Chinese New Year.   The massive fruit, known as the king of citrus, is often used as a centrepiece decoration during the lunar new year festivities.   Pomelo grower Han Shiong SiahContinue Reading

by Gabrielle Easter, Fruitnet   Japan’s Ministry of Finance has released official import statistics for  2015, with bananas, pineapples and grapefruit leading fruit imports in terms of volume, while bananas, kiwifruit and avocados led in terms of value.   While the total volume of fruit imported dropped slightly from 1.596m tonnesContinue Reading

by Clint Jasper and Carmen Brown, ABC Rural   As the price of avocados climbs higher, the peak industry body has described claims that Western Australian growers are to blame for the high prices as “ludicrous”. A former chief executive of Avocados Australia, Antony Allen, told the Sydney Morning HeraldContinue Reading