Confirming information about China’s plan to expand dragonfruit growing area to 30,000 hectares by 2020, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong yesterday said that Vietnam is not too concerned about that.     The dragonfruit production areas in China’s Hainan and Guangxi provinces have reached 20,000 hectaresContinue Reading

Israel’s MediWound Ltd., a biotech firm that makes burn and wound treatments, said that it has received a new contract for up to $43 million from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to adapt its lead product, a gel based on pineapple enzymes for the treatment ofContinue Reading

Sabah’s native fruits such as tarap, bambangan, durian dalit or red-fleshed durian and many other wild fruit species have great market potential but remain economically untapped, said the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal.   He said tropical fruits like pineapples, durians, bananas and avocadoes also had huge marketContinue Reading

A severe strike in Costa Rica over the last two weeks has heavily affected the banana and pineapple industries, with the latter suffering multi-million dollar losses.   The standstill by the country’s unions began on Sept. 10 in response to the government’s proposed tax reforms which would mean an increaseContinue Reading