Good orchard management practices, such as fertilisation, can reduce crop differences Trees take about three to four years to start bearing fruit and depending on the region it can take eight years Mango Cultivars For the mango farmer, choosing a mango cultivar to plant will depend on factors such as climate, time of ripening i. Mango Production The mango is one of the most common and versatile fruit in the world with production focussed in Asia, most notably India and China.
In South Africa, the production of mangoes started in the subtropical regions of the Limpopo Province Apart from the millions of fruits that we eat at home in Africa, many of us do not notice the huge volumes of bananas, pineapples, mangoes and several other tropical fruit varieties that are shipped to Europe, the Middle East and USA every week! Africa has a unique advantage to profit from this very lucrative market for tropical fruits which grow abundantly on our continent.
This article explores the tropical fruit business and looks at a couple of successful entrepreneurs who are already exploiting the potentials of the fruit production business in Africa. I have also included very detailed manuals that reveal all the technical details of starting and succeeding in fruit farming…. A very large portion of our dear continent is located in the tropics — a region that enjoys all-year-round sunlight and has a perfect climate for fruits to thrive and grow abundantly.
Because fruits are highly perishable spoil very quickly and many farmers have little access to good storage facilities, Africa currently exports less than 5 percent of the fruits it produces every year. As you will read much later in this article, there are signs of positive change as some entrepreneurs are already making the best of this bad situation.
Due to the revelations by modern science about the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables , millions of people around the world especially in developed countries now include some form of fruit in their daily diets.
Apart from their rich nutrient, mineral and vitamin content, fruits are now known to lower blood pressure; reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and probably some cancers; and help to lower the risk of eye and digestive system problems.
The growing consciousness in Western countries to adopt fruit-rich diets is one of the major drivers of the growing demand for tropical fruits which are abundant in Africa.
According to the World Health Organisation , millions of people around the world still die prematurely from diseases associated with low fruit consumption. While this is sad, it signals a promising and lucrative growth in the demand for African tropical fruits now and in the future as more people add fruits to their diets. The global market for fruit and vegetable juices is growing fast and is forecast to exceed 70 billion liters by the year This rapid growth is driven by a rising preference by customers for healthy drinks like fruit juices over soft drinks such as carbonated drinks — like Coke and Pepsi.
There is also a rising demand for organic, super fruit and percent natural fruit juices without any sweeteners and preservatives. This means that in the very near future, producers will require more raw fruits to make a glass of juice.
As more manufacturers shop for fruits to produce more juice to serve the growing demand, Africa will become a huge supplier due to the abundance of fruits that grow on the continent. This added demand from fruit juice manufacturers is allowing farmers across Africa to process their harvested fruits into less perishable concentrates thereby reducing spoilage and earning them more money.
In the Mango section of this article, there is an interesting story and a short video about a Sierra-Leone based company that buys raw mangoes from the local community and converts it to concentrates used to make fruit juice. Make sure you look out for it…. Photo credit: canelakitchen. The pineapple is a very popular and widely consumed fruit in many parts of Africa.
It is second only to bananas as the most important harvested fruit. In some of the other big producers like Nigeria, more than 95 percent of harvested pineapples are eaten locally or wasted due to a lack of storage facilities and very little is exported. Although a lot of money is made from selling pineapples locally, entrepreneurs can make up to three to five times more money if this fruit is exported.
Like all the other tropical fruits discussed in this article, pineapples grow and perform very well in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa where the soil and tropical climate is just perfect for them. Pineapples have long and tough leaves which use the power of the sun to provide all the food and water the plant needs.
The best part is: Pineapples multiply really fast and only require little care after planting. Blue Skies, based in Ghana, purchases harvested pineapples from local communities and a large proportion of these fruits are processed into fresh pineapple chunks, juices and concentrates. These products are exported to Europe where the taste and demand for fresh exotic tropical fruits like pineapples is huge. The video shows the chain of activities that take pineapples from the farms where they are grown and harvested, to packaging houses and then to the export terminal for its journey to Europe.
It is important to note that there are more than different varieties of pineapple but only about six varieties are popular in commercial production. Malawi, where horticulture is a large sector, has warm soil suitable for mangoes. With mangoes being lucrative produce, more ventures might come up.
While the company claims the fruits are almost identical to those grown in Konkan, mango farmers from Ratnagiri disagree. These trees are our family and right from the flowering season to the harvesting, we treat the mangoes as babies.
Customers, on the other hand, say there is little difference. Herbal Safety. Main Content. Where is it found? How is it used? The kernel of the fruit is ingested as food, and also as an extract or powder mainly to treat Type 2 Diabetes and obesity. Externally, the powdered bark is rubbed onto the body to decrease pain, applied to wounds or sores.
The bark is boiled in water and taken as a tea against diarrhea, and yellow fever. The bark is boiled in water and used as a mouthwash to treat toothaches. As an antidote against poisons. The active ingredients contained in the bark have antibiotic and analgesic properties The bark is also used to treat skin aliments. The leaves can be boiled in water to make a tea or taken as an extract to reduce fever.
What is it used for? In Eastern Nigeria, the leaves are boiled in water and taken as a tea for the treatment of intestinal worm infestation in humans in rural areas. The bark of the tree contains important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients which could be of use in treating various neurodegenerative diseases.
Some reports mention that the African mango seed kernel and certain products made from it could be a potential alternative herbal option for weight loss and Type 2 Diabetes. To treat spleen infections, the leaves of the tree are combined with the stem bark of other plants and boiled in water and taken as a tea.
0コメント