Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and her New Zealander counterpart Murray McCully have agreed to enhance the two countries’ relationship in many sectors including agriculture, trade, investment and defence.   The agreements were reached when the two concluded the 7th Indonesia-New Zealand Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) in Auckland on Tuesday.Continue Reading

Two virus-tolerant varieties of papaya seeds promise to increase the fruit yield for farmers in western India.   The city-based regional station of Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) has developed ‘Pune Selection-3’ and ‘Pune Selection-1’ lines of papaya seeds that have shown tolerance to Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) – globallyContinue Reading

by Zach Dyer, Tico Times   A “green” banana never looked so good. Costa Rica’s Environment Ministry (MINAE) recognized Finca San Pablo as the country’s first carbon neutral banana farm during a ceremony Monday.   Finca San Pablo’s general manager, Geraldo Mora, told The Tico Times that the company wanted to go carbonContinue Reading

by Felix Chaudhary, The Fiji Times Online   The papaya export sector has been affected by pests, wet weather and increased local demand, says Nature’s Way Co-operative Ltd CEO Michael Brown.   Papaya, once the country’s premier export, has now been superseded by eggplant demand from the New Zealand market.  Continue Reading