Tuesday’s edition of the Federal Register contains new regulations that would ban new strands of bath salts, allow Filipino bananas in Hawaii, and a handful of rules for executives in the housing industry. Here’s what is happening: Bananas: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering changes to a rule that would allow Filipino bananas...
Continue readingCategory: Banana
Bananas could replace potatoes in warming world
Climate change could lead to bananas becoming a critical food source for millions of people, a new report says. Researchers from the CGIAR agricultural partnership say the fruit might replace potatoes in some developing countries. Cassava and the little known cowpea plant could play increasingly important roles in agriculture as temperatures rise. People will...
Continue readingIn Philippines, banana growers feel effect of South China Sea dispute
PANABO, Philippines — Dazzled by the opportunities offered by China’s vast and increasingly prosperous populace, Renante Flores Bangoy, the owner of a small banana plantation here in the southern Philippines, decided three years ago to stop selling to multinational fruit corporations and stake his future on Chinese appetites. Through a local exporter, he started...
Continue readingUK consumers go bananas for Fairtrade
Sales of fairly traded products have bucked the trend of decline in the UK retail market to grow by 12% in the last year. The value of Fairtrade products sold through shops reached £1.32bn in 2011, compared to £1.17bn in 2010, according to figures from the Fairtrade Foundation, as it launches its annual marketing...
Continue readingGrowing Dryland Taro Part I
By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH CTAHR Cooperative Extension Service Molokai is blessed with many Hawaiian taro varieties, in part due to the vision of the late Martha and Cowboy Otsuka in seeking out and preserving these legacies. Also, under the direction of Alton Arakaki and Faith Tuipulotu in making huli available...
Continue readingBattling a Virus Ravaging East Africa’s Cassava Crops – New York Times
MUKONO, Uganda — Lynet Nalugo dug a cassava tuber out of her field and sliced it open. Inside its tan skin, the white flesh was riddled with necrotic brown lumps, as obviously diseased as any tuberculosis lung or cancerous breast. “Even the pigs refuse this,” she said. The plant was what she called a...
Continue readingBananas need no hype to be considered good – Hawaii Features – Starbulletin.com
Nearly everyone has received e-mails proclaiming that a particular food possesses magical qualities. One such e-mail espouses bananas to be a superfood. The e-mail claims that a professor of physiological psychology provided the amazing information about bananas. There are a number of urban legend websites posting this message that don’t point out what is...
Continue readingHawaii Tribune-Herald | Many varieties of world’s most important fruit
Bananas are fun to grow, with tips from a pro Bananas can grow quite vigorously and productively in many landscapes and gardens on the Big Island. The many varieties of this large, perennial herb yield the world’s most important fruit. The ripening, homegrown bunches hang in garages around the state, ready to nourish our...
Continue readingEU, Latin American Accord Ends Banana-Import Dispute – Bloomberg.com
EU, Latin American Accord Ends Banana-Import Dispute (Update1) By Jennifer M. Freedman Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — The European Union and Latin American countries including Ecuador and Guatemala reached an agreement over the EU’s banana-import policies, settling the longest-running dispute at the World Trade Organization. Under the deal secured today, which also has U.S. backing,...
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