TFNet News Compilation (Page 212)

A new banana value addition factory recently launched by President Museveni in Bushenyi, in Western Uganda, is set to provide a ready market for over 400 farmers.   Sources say their economic status will substantially improve. Uganda is one of the top five biggest banana producers in the world.  Continue Reading

Chiquita Brands International‘s plan to acquire Fyffes of Ireland for $526 million hit a snag last month, when a leading proxy advisory service recommended shareholders vote against the deal.   Now the same group, Institutional Shareholder Services, has changed its tune, voicing its support for a merger of the twoContinue Reading

While Brazilian papaya exports have so far this season been relatively strong, shippers are hoping to significantly increase volumes as the fruit quality gradually improves.   A recent report from São Paulo University’s Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics (CEPEA) said in September month-on-month exports significantly increased, largely becauseContinue Reading

Distributor Green Island Rum is introducing a new fruit wine from Mauritius to the UK market – Divine tropical lychee wine 12%abv.   To make the wine, fresh lychees are peeled and stoned before being pressed. Yeast is added to the extracted juice and after a two to three weekContinue Reading

by Vishwa Kundapura   Mango yield in the State is likely to witness a drop as cultivators are felling trees that are withering owing to scanty rain and humidity.   All the five taluks in Kolar district have been declared drought-hit and mangoes are among the major crops affected by theContinue Reading

by Akosita Talei   The papaya industry has been having problems with rot found in red papayas meant for exports.   Nadi-based agribusiness, Nature’s Way Cooperative says the disease occurs mainly during the wet season from November to April.   Research Extension Manager Kyle Stice says they’ve been exploring some optionsContinue Reading

Vietnam’s fruit exports to the U.S., South Korea, and Japan remain modest due to a lack of standardized products, plus unhealthy competition among local firms, even though many Vietnamese-grown tropical fruits have been allowed to enter these strict markets, statistics have shown.   Since 2008, the U.S., Japan, South Korea,Continue Reading

Frente Amplio (FA) lawmaker, Edgardo Araya, along with several groups representing communities that claim to have suffered from environmental and other damage due to pineapple production, have presented a draft decree that would put a moratorium on the expansion of monoculture pineapple plantations for the next five years.   ArayaContinue Reading

Territorians have reacted angrily to a national directive requiring all banana trees in every backyard and farm across much of the Top End to immediately be destroyed.   All locally grown bananas will disappear from Darwin until 2017, under a disease eradication plan to rid Australia of the recently detectedContinue Reading

by Ganesh Prabhu and Mohit M. Rao   Banana plantations in many places in the district have been affected by the pest ‘Erionota torus’, also known as Banana Red-Eyed Skipper, Banana Leaf Roller or Banana Skipper, leaving farmers in distress.   The pest is a chocolate-brown butterfly belonging to the familyContinue Reading

by Grant Butler   Avocados make wonderful additions to sandwiches and salads, and the world would be a less-happy place without guacamole. But sometimes you only need half an avocado for a recipe, and the remaining half can begin to discolor and turn an unappetizing shade of brown quickly.   ThereContinue Reading