 |
|||||||
| ISSUE 60: SEPTEMBER 2020 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
|||||||
 |
 |
||||||
| TFNet presents keynote paper during MARDI’s 2020 Crop Protection Colloquium | ISTF2019 Proceedings now available! | ||||||
| TFNet Advisor Yacob Ahmad was invited to present a keynote paper on “Crop protection in fruits and vegetables: Current scenarios and challenges.” | The ISTF2019 Proceedings has been published and indexed in CAB Abstracts. Digital copies are available for purchase. | ||||||
| UPCOMING TFNET ACTIVITIES | |||||||
Virtual Workshop on Banana Fusarium Wilt International Symposium on Tropical Fruits (Virtual Symposium) National Fruit Symposium (Malaysia) |
|||||||
MEMBERSHIP REMINDER |
EXPERT MEMBER REGISTRATION |
||||||
 |
Benefits of being a TFNet Expert
Register as a TFNet Expert here. |
||||||
TROPICAL FRUIT NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD |
|||||||
 |
PHILIPPINES: Dole PH lays off 500 workers |  |
STUDY: Orange peels used to extract valuable metals from spent batteries | ||||
| Some 500 workers of Dole Philippines Inc., a fruit processing firm in Mindanao, lost their jobs after the company implemented its retrenchment program amid the economic slump brought about by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. | Just because a lithium-ion battery no longer holds a charge doesn’t mean it no longer holds any value. It still contains useful metals, which can now be reclaimed via a more eco-friendly technique – the key ingredient is orange peel waste. | ||||||
 |
FIJI: Ministry to soon launch candies made from pawpaw and pineapple |  |
AUSTRALIA: Traces of 2,000-year-old banana farm found | ||||
| To minimize the flooding of pawpaw and pineapple in the market, the government through the Ministry for Agriculture will soon be launching candy products made from these two fruits. | New research suggests Australia’s indigenous communities have cultivated bananas for at least 2,000 years, challenging the once-predominant view that these early humans were exclusively hunter gatherers. | ||||||
 |
PAKISTAN: Mango export target surpassed by 45,000 tonnes despite COVID-19 |  |
ECUADOR: Mixed fortunes for bananas | ||||
Pakistan has surpassed its mango export target by 45,000 tonnes despite grave challenges arising from the global outbreak of coronavirus. |
Ecuador exported 230.32m boxes of bananas on July, an increase of 8.09 per cent than the same period of 2019. | ||||||
 |
PHILIPPINES: Country may lose in banana export war |  |
VIETNAM: Fruit exports to the US set to resume | ||||
| The Philippines may lose in the banana export war amid continued stiff competition in the global market, prompting the government to allocate some P263 million (USD5.42 million) to save the local banana industry. | The export of Vietnamese fresh fruit to the US has resumed following the interruption since early August due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | ||||||
 |
SOUTH AFRICA: Pineapple export troubles eased by demand from home-brewers |  |
AUSTRALIA: Panama disease detected at Qld banana farm | ||||
| Pineapple producers in the northern KwaZulu-Natal region have expressed the hope that as the economies in overseas countries start to “open up” after the COVID-19 pandemic, exports will re-commence and even increase. | A suspected case of a disease capable of wiping out banana crops has been detected on a farm in Far North Queensland. | ||||||
 |
ST. KITTS & NEVIS: Tai-Chiao no.2 banana from China set to KO local contenders in St. Lucia |  |
PHILIPPINES: Banana industry needs to diversify | ||||
| The St. Lucia government announced that 110 banana farmers attended two special workshops to introduce a new banana variety. | The country’s largest business group, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), is calling on the government to diversify the local banana industry in order to keep up with an increasingly competitive global market. | ||||||
 |
UGANDA: Hass avocado changes fortune of Mayuge farmers |  |
INDIA: Banana exports from AP record over 143% growth | ||||
| Sitting on 2,500 acres on the shores of Lake Victoria in Mayuge District, Musubi Farm is one of Uganda’s largest Hass avocado growing hub. | Banana export from Andhra Pradesh has registered growth of over 143% in 2019-2020 compared to the previous year (2018-2019). | ||||||
 |
AUSTRALIA: Workers from Vanuatu to harvest mangoes in the NT despite Australia’s coronavirus travel ban |  |
JAPAN: Taiwan resumes pomelo exports after 2 decades | ||||
| Despite Australia’s borders being shut to overseas arrivals, up to 170 workers from Vanuatu will be brought to the Northern Territory under a pilot program aimed at filling labour shortages in the mango growing industry. | A ceremony was held in Tainan August 28 for the resumption of Taiwan-cultivated pomelo exports to Japan, after a 20-year hiatus. | ||||||
 |
INDIA: Mounting losses add to Kerala pineapple growers’ stress |  |
VIETNAM: Longan cross the sea to Singaporean market | ||||
| Pineapple growers in Kerala have been hit hard as fruit prices continue to nosedive amid the coronavirus pandemic, and have appealed from help from the Centre and the state. | The first 16 tonnes of longan grown in Hai Duong province have been exported to Singapore, and could also vie for Australia and Europe soon. | ||||||
 |
SINGAPORE: NUS researchers use pineapple leaves in eco-friendly way to preserve fruits and treat waste water |  |
HONDURAS: Rambutan producers get ready to implement new strategies | ||||
| Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have discovered an environmentally friendlier way to treat waste water and preserve food by turning pineapple leaves into biodegradable aerogels. | A forum on “Rambutan marketing trends in times of COVID-19 for Mexico and Central America” was conducted in Hoduras. | ||||||
 |
USA: New treatments closer for citrus disease |  |
THAILAND: Chinese fruit traders to be exempt from virus travel ban | ||||
| Scientists are closer to finding effective solutions to citrus greening disease, which has wiped out orchards worldwide, following new research. | Thailand’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) announced that its panel had decided to allow fans to attend sports events, as well as allow Chinese traders to enter Thailand for fruit export. | ||||||
 |
CHINA: Late-maturing Sichuan lychees hit Chinese and North American shelves |  |
IRAN: Banana imports at USD 113m in four months | ||||
| While its fruit was hitting the domestic market, Hejiang County also dispatched its first ever shipment of lychees to be exported to North America. | A total of 173,062 tons of bananas worth USD 113.68 million were imported into Iran during the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 20-July 21). | ||||||
 |
PHILIPPINES: Dole Unveils Integrated Strategy Against Banana Disease |  |
PANAMA: Air shipping ensures sweeter exported pineapples | ||||
| Dole Food Company today shared the company’s most recent update on its efforts to combat Fusarium Tropical Race 4 (TR4), a plant disease that poses an existential threat to bananas, a major staple crop for much of the world. | Shipping pineapples by air has allowed Verba Odrec, which has more than 70 years of experience in agricultural production, to diversify its export markets and better position itself in them, achieving good results even in the context of the pandemic. | ||||||
 |
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Mango production guide released |  |
UGANDA: Pick more from passion fruits | ||||
| With the aim of turning mango cultivation into a highly profitable business in the Dominican Republic,a modern technical guide for the sustainable production and export was released. | Passion fruit, a climbing vine, is a versatile crop whose demand is growing in both export and domestic markets. | ||||||
RECENT LITERATURE ON TROPICAL FRUIT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT |
|||||||
 |
Genetic Diversity and Mating Type Distribution of Pseudocercospora fijiensis on Banana in Uganda and Tanzania |  |
Deciphering Transcriptional Regulators of Banana Fruit Ripening by Regulatory Network Analysis | ||||
| Kimunye, J. N., et al. (15 Sept 2020) Journal: Phytopathology DOI |
Kuang, J.F., et al. (23 Sept 2020) Journal: Plant Biotechnology DOI |
||||||
 |
Activated carbon microspheres derived from hydrothermally treated mango seed shells for acetone vapor removal |  |
Consumer preference for dried mango attributes: A conjoint study among Dutch, Chinese, and Indonesian consumers | ||||
| de Andrade, R.C., et al. (15 Sept 2020) Journal: Carbon Letters DOI |
Sulistyawati, I., et al. (12 Sept 2020) Journal: Food Science DOI |
||||||
 |
Prediction of pineapple sweetness from images using convolutional neural network |  |
Optimization of an extrusion process for the development of a fiber‐rich, ready‐to‐eat snack from pineapple by‐products | ||||
| Adisak, S., et al. (14 Sept 2020) Journal: EAI Endorsed Transactions on Context-aware Systems and Applications DOI |
Rivera-Miron, M.I., et al. (10 Sept 2020) Journal: Food Processing Engineering DOI |
||||||
 |
Comparative branching order and root anatomy of clonal and seed-grown avocado trees (Persea americana Mill.) |  |
Susceptibility of avocado Fruit to Scirtothrips aurantii Faure (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and Wind Scarring Damage in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces of South Africa | ||||
| Fassio, C.F., et al. (Aug 2020) Journal: International Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources DOI |
Bara, G.T., et al. (31 Aug 2020) Journal: Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica DOI |
||||||
 |
Comparison of ultrasound assisted extraction and enzyme assisted extraction of betacyanin from red dragon fruit peel |  |
Antioxidant activity and polyphenol content in extracts from various parts of fresh and frozen mangosteen | ||||
| Van, M.P., et al. (8 Sept 2020) Conf. Proceedings: 13th Thai Society of Agricultural Engineering International Conference DOI |
Muzykiewicz, A., et al. Journal: Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Technologia Alimentaria DOI |
||||||
