The end (of the year) is nigh!
December 2012: Challenging year comes to a close
With the month not yet over anything could happen! Indeed there is even speculation that the end of the world is imminent! It may have felt like it in the Philippines earlier this month, as twice named typhoon Pablo/Bopha wreaked havoc in the banana plantations of the Compostela Valley. Early estimates.....
November 2012: A month of firsts for UK supermarkets
Jamaica was looking at how to start the recovery after banana plantations were destroyed by hurricane Sandy, while sales of Florida citrus were down in the aftermath.November was a month of several firsts for top fruit in the UK. Marks and Spencer sold its first ready to eat pears, in cooperation with.....
October 2012: The rain in Spain falls mainly on the crops
October commenced with some very serious weather in parts of Spain, particularly the South and East. Sudden, heavy rains, swept away roads, cars and buildings. Andalusia was particularly hard hit, and lives were lost.Agricultural production was also very badly affected, particularly field vegetables.....
September 2012: The tradefair month
September was a month of international trade fairs. Asia Fruit Logistica took place in Hong Kong 5-7 September, the fair attracted over 5,700 visitors and 344 exhibitors, as always FreshPlaza was there to make a photo report. This year's Potato Europe took place on the 12th and 13th of September at.....
August 2012: Get your apples before they're gone!
There were concerns, first voiced in August, over the ability of the new G3 kiwi variety to withstand PSA infection. Newly grafted vines, in some cases, were reported to be showing signs of the disease, seemingly slashing the hopes of many who had pinned them the new variety. Others, however, remained.....
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July 2012: European fruit and vegetable estimates down
July started well for British Columbian cherry growers who had high expectations for this year's cherry crop, saying it should be twice as high in value as it was in 2010 and 2011. These hope were soon dashed and many growers were anticipating losses in the millions due to rain and wind which wrought havoc.....
June 2012: Much vaunted G3 kiwi finally arrives
PSA was again in the news back in June, especially with the release of the much awaited Zespri Gold3 for grafting. After considering bids Zespri initially released 2,000 ha worth of the new variety to "begin the recovery" from PSA. The first commercial samples made their way into the European ports in June.....
May 2012: China tightens regulations on Filipino bananas
The big news story this month was the effects of tightening of regulations on Filipino bananas entering China,
this resulted in thousands of containers sitting in Chinese ports
awaiting inspection, by the end of the month the situation was improving
and more bananas were being allowed to enter China......
April 2012: The frost finally strikes
In April many places, unfortunately, fell foul of the frosts that everyone had been dreading for months. Warm weather earlier in Winter brought out all the flowering fruit trees ahead of schedule placing them in danger of getting frosted at the most vulnerable time in their cycle. Damage was widespread.....
March 2012: Positive end to Chilean cherry export
Despite a continued heat wave in South Africa with temperatures reaching up to 48° the quality of the grape exports remained good, but as the month went on the UK market was described as a "total loss" by one importer, due to huge volumes from Peru and other southern hemisphere exporters. This was not good.....
February 2012: Growers worried by warm Winter weather
As we headed into February this year one of the biggest concerns for growers, in the Northern hemisphere at least, was the unseasonal warm weather that many places had experienced. Whilst many were enjoying a rare burst of warm, Winter weather, growers were carefully watching their trees and shrubs - the.....
January 2012: Year got underway with extreme temperatures
Weather wise 2012 started as it meant to carry on, unpredictable and sometimes extreme. South Africa suffered from extreme heat in January, which resulted in storms with heavy rain and strong winds, these came as the grape harvest was in full swing, damaging many vineyards. Meanwhile in the US growers were.....
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