News (Page 215)

by Paul Barbano, Cape Gazette   An old saying goes, “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” The most popular fresh fruit in the United States isn’t apples or oranges but the tropical banana, probably because bananas are available year round. However the most popular fruit inContinue Reading

by Ginny Grant, Stuff   Despite its name (the Arabic “tamar hindi” translates as “date of India”), the tamarind tree hails originally from Africa, though its presence in Indian and South-East Asia dates back more than 2000 years.   The fruit is a bean-like pod. The immature fruit is greenish,Continue Reading

Seven years in the making, a designer in the Philippines has found that pineapple leaves can be used an alternative to leather.     The product, named Pinatex, is a middle-ground between traditional leather and petroleum based textiles says designer Carmen Hijosa. The pineapple-based alternative has been used in prototypes for bothContinue Reading

by Eliza Rogers, ABC Rural     Seth Morton doesn’t fit the mould of a typical Australian mango farmer. He has a passion for audio engineering and film, and spends most of his time tending mango orchards in Vietnam and empowering the local people. As his family-owned farm grapples withContinue Reading

by Kim Chi, Viet Nam Net   Vuong Dinh Khoat, general director of HCM City-based Hugo Company, said in Tuoi Tre that the high shipping cost has caused problems. Hugo plans to export longan and dragon fruits to the US. He has been told that he would have to payContinue Reading

by Luisa Cheshire, Fruitnet   Steep airfreight costs are preventing Vietnam from penetrating foreign markets.   The South East Asian nation hopes to export US$2bn worth of fresh fruit this year, but analysts doubt the goal is attainable due to high airfreight fees which make the product uncompetitive on someContinue Reading

Mango growers have the best prospects possible this season, since the plants had a good flowering, the fruits have grown well and the figures achieved in the 2014-15 campaign could easily be surpassed, according to the president of the Association of Mango Producers and Exporters (EMPA), Juan Carlos Rivera.  Continue Reading

Avocados from Kenya are seen by some in the trade as a lower quality product compared to Southern Hemisphere supplies from Peru and South Africa according to Anthon Bothma from Eagle Fruit Alliance. “For the past few years the Kenyan producer watched his product being discounted against competitive supplies. ManyContinue Reading

by Lamin B. Darboe, Daily Observer   The coordinator of the Outgrower Project, Radville Farms, has stated that the increase in mango production within the Greater Banjul Area could be attributed to the major support the Project rendered to the mango farmers by providing them with D6, 000 (USD 152)Continue Reading

Lychee Divine owners Kerry and John Pool will be showcasing their lychee-based products at this weekend’s Good Food & Wine festival in Brisbane, after an “amazing” business turn-around.     After four years of harsh weather and poor lychee yield, it was the sale of a tractor that kept theContinue Reading