News (Page 260)

A major grocery chain is unable to guarantee bananas will be available on shelves this week, as a nationwide shortage looms.   New Zealand has the highest rate of banana consumption in the world per capita, but that was expected to take a hit with supplies expected to be downContinue Reading

With 250 hectares of GlobalG.A.P.-certified pomegranate farms, Granadas Argentina has more than tripled its plantation area since it began growing the fruit in 2009.   “Every year, both in the spring and in the fall, the surface area kept increasing until it reached 250 hectares,” Granadas Argentinas director Marcelo ScarafiaContinue Reading

Untimely rains across the district in quick succession in February followed by another spell last Sunday has left the watermelon cultivators devastated. The rain has defaced the fruit making it difficult for the cultivators to sell it.   Reports said, watermelon is grown over 580 hectares of land –  400Continue Reading

Irrigation problem grips the watermelon farmers in Kuakata area in Kalapara upazila under the district as there no suitable sources of sweet water in the area. “This season I cultivated watermelon on eight bighas of land, spending Tk 55,000. But as there is no source of sweet water around, IContinue Reading

A Vietnamese company has revealed plans to grow up to 10,000 hectares of dragon fruit in the Northern Territory. If it goes ahead, it will be the biggest dragon fruit farm in Australia.   The CT Group, which has a diverse portfolio that includes retail and education, has met withContinue Reading

Nyoman Sepel Diantara, a prominent figure among salak (snake fruit) farmers in Sibetan village, Karangasem, was selecting the seeds of the sweet gula pasir variety on Sunday. Sepel and all the other farmers in Sibetan produce their own seeds to conserve the germplasm, the genetic makeup of the fruit andContinue Reading

Fruit growers in the deep south province of Yala have been hit hard by severe drought.   Yala has been known for its quality fruit such as durian, mangosteen and longong; however, fruit orchards in Bannangstar district have lately been hit by severe drought given it has not rained atContinue Reading

The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry is developing a traceability system called ‘Mi-Trace’ for the export of frozen durian to China.   Its minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the system which would be fully implemented in June this year would put an end to the problem of frozen duriansContinue Reading

Passion fruit production in Kwale County is expected to shoot up threefold this harvest season after the successful introduction of high-yielding and drought resistant varieties. Stakeholders said the yields would increase from 500 metric tonnes, realised in the last harvest season, to 1,500 metric tonnes in the one coming up.Continue Reading

Tran Huu Hiep, head of the committee’s Economic Division, said the fruit areas would be located in the provinces of Vinh Long, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Dong Thap, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh and Hau Giang, and Can Tho City.   The areas will grow the delta’s specialty fruits such asContinue Reading

The 3-kilometre detour off the Barmer-Munabao Road is typical desert. The driver of the SUV that we have hired to reach a farmland in the middle of Rajasthan’s scorching Thar desert struggles to keep the tyres from veering off into the sand. “When I ride my motorcycle, it gets stalledContinue Reading