Banana

Rwanda: New Banana Variety to Enhance Productivity

A new variety of highly productive banana plants will be distributed to farmers starting next month in a bid to improve banana production and fight disease in one of the priority crops in the country. The move, under the government's seven year programme which will come to an end in …

WTO backs US in banana dispute

The World Trade Organisation has ruled in favour of a US complaint against EU banana imports, a US trade official said. The EU has given a group of former colonies a small quota of duty-free exports to Europe, while taxing all Latin American bananas -many grown by US-based companies. The …

EU blocks WTO probe into banana import tariffs

The European Union recently blocked a wto investigation into its banana import tariffs, with reference to an arbitration process started by Latin American countries against it. wto has repeatedly ruled against eu's banana import regime, forcing it to change its system that favours the African, Caribbean and Pacific (acp) countries. …

Nature cure

An experiment at the M B Gurudev School in the Doddaballapur taluk has proved beneficial for farmers. An eco-toilet, built in collaboration with Mythi Sarva Seva Samithi

Banana bonus

the genetic make-up of banana and plantain varieties grown in India indicates they can yield good quality fibre in abundance, according to scientists from the National Research Centre for Banana in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. "India has an enormous potential to develop an industry based on banana fibre. The raw material …

Going Bananas

India gave bananas to the world and today it is the world's largest banana republic

Caribbean in trouble

Caribbean states have been hit hard by a recent World Trade Organisation ruling that pronounced as illegal the new us $280 per tonne eu tariff on bananas imported from the Most Favoured Nations (mfn). The 25-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific group are pitted against mfn, comprising Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, …

Bytes

banana respite: Indian researchers have found an environmentally friendly way of fighting Panama disease

Just use it

If someone is questioned about the raw material used to make paper, the instant answer is wood. Those who know a little more about the papermaking process would mention agricultural waste and recycled paper. Ironically, no one would talk about banana fibre or coconut shells, raw materials that can make …

Cost a DBCP? Sterility, cancer

Two prominent chemical companies and three Us fresh produce companies have been sued by Costa Rica's banana pickers for causing reproductive disorders through pesticide use. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles against Shell Chemical Company, Dow Chemical Company, Dole Food Company, Chiquita Brands International Inc and Fresh Del Monte …

Drink banana

indian scientists have developed a method to extract banana juice. Despite the fruit having an 85 per cent water content, scientists have long struggled to extract its juice. Costly and complicated techniques, using external enzymes, were evolved to break down the fruit lining storing the moisture, but none were able …

Fruitful development

many farmers across the world will now stop going bananas. Researchers have developed a method to quickly assess the susceptibility of the banana plants to Panama disease

Shooting the messenger

Four journalists who brought to light in 2000 the use of banned pesticides at a banana plantation in the Philippines have now been put behind bars. Also arrested is Romeo Quijano, professor at the University of the Philippines and president of the country's chapter of global group Pesticide Action Network. …

Rural ventures

The M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (mssrf) is promoting rural entrepreneurship as a solution to alleviating poverty. The organisation's J R D Tata Ecotechnology Centre located in the village of Kannivadi, in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu, conceives and implements many innovative projects in the region. The centre's coordinator, S Bose, …

Eating the banana tree

Flower (prepared: Mochar Ghanto) The purple or green outer leaves of the flower are inedible. The immature fruit (mocha) inside is eaten. But about one-eighth of the top portion of each mocha is inedible and should be chopped off. Mocha is likely to stain the fingers. Therefore, it is advisable …

Ecuador

The world's largest banana exporter, Ecuador, has criticised a decision of the European Union (eu) to abandon a

Fruits of science

fed up with bananas turning over-ripe? Just wait for a couple of years and you just might have a solution. A group of scientists at the National Botanical Research Institute ( nbri ) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, are close to developing a transgenic banana plant that would bear fruits the …

COSTA RICA

Keen to fight the bad press they're getting in Europe for alleged environmental and labour abuses, Costa Rican banana-growers recently convinced world industry representatives to push the United Nations for a comparative study of plantation conditions in all banana-exporting countries. They're confident that Costa Rica will score high in the …

Banana music

Coaxing better quality sound from your loudspeakers could soon be taking a tropical turn. A Japanese paper-making company is helping to develop a speaker diaphragm made from paper that began life as waste banana leaves. Apparently the material has far better sound qualities than conventional materials. Normally made of paper, …

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