MAX FACTS
hydroponic news, tips and trivia
Avocado Exporters Band Together The trend for New Zealand avocado exporters to co-operate rather than compete in offshore markets has taken another step. The country's two biggest avocado exporters have joined forces in a new partnership‑—AVOCO—to sell their fruit in Australia, the country's biggest overseas market, where they had formerly been rivals. The partnership is anticipating higher returns this year and says the trade there could reach $50 million for the first time. AVOCO director John Carroll said New Zealand is a small supplier of avocados with 2% of the world's trade in the crop available for only a portion of year. (Source: radionz.co.nz)
MAXFACTS
hydroponic news, tips and trivia Fruit Still Alive After Harvest: Study Produce you buy in the shops is still alive and all those blueberries and zucchinis are still responding to the time of day, say scientists. The study showed that post-harvest vegetables and fruits continued to perceive light so their biological clocks kept on ticking. The plants responded to the light by altering levels of chemicals that protect them from being eaten by insects and other herbivores. (Source: weeklytimesnow.com.au)
Banana Flour Turning bananas into flour is the latest project for an innovative Far North Queensland banana farmer. Robert Watkins developed a prototype for a recyclable carton liner he affectionately dubbed the “banana blankey” to get his lady finger bananas to market and was well on his was to commercialising the product when he was named the ABC-Kondinin Group's 2010 Australian Farmer of the Year. His latest venture—banana flour—takes him into the food manufacturing industry and plans are to build a factory on the Atherton Tableland and adopt innovations that will improve efficiency and reduce labour costs. “It's a powder of such, which is a gluten-free product, extremely high in resistant starch and very nutritious,” said Watkins. “It's not new in the world; Africans have eaten it for thousands of years in some countries.” (Source: abc.net.au)
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Maximum Yield | September/October 2013