From Malaysia, news that a new banana variety called Pisang Sekaki has improved the lot of growers on Sebatik Island. Pisang Sekaki means “one-foot” banana and was apparently developed especially for the banana cracker market. The new variety has also increased job opportunities at the nearby cracker-producing factory.
The marula and the elephant
The sweet, juicy fruits of the marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) are widely eaten in the miombo woodlands of southern Africa, and are also used to make the delicious Amarula Cream liqueur. But it’s not just people who like them: elephants will walk a long way for a marula feast. This piece looks at some of the evolutionary consequences.
Brazil to market biodiversity
Under an Environment Ministry initiative in Brazil research groups have selected 775 species to encourage production and hopefully develop major markets. Read about it here:
Five books will be published this year, each dedicated to one of the five major regions of Brazil, containing the knowledge that has been accumulated about these “plants of the future”. Seminars for the business community will be held to spread the word about the potential of these plants, which are ornamental or used to produce foods, beverages, medicines, oils and perfumes.
Olive oil spreads
There’s increasing recognition around the world that olive oil, as a key component of the so-called Mediterranean diet, is really good for you. The latest news is about its effect on ulcers. So obviously the traditional growing countries are trying to expand cultivation and production. But as this article points out, that’s not always so easy. Pity there’s nothing in the piece on varieties, though.
Batty
This story is not particularly agricultural, but I couldn’t resist it. Brazilian researchers extracted the essential oils from a Piper sp commonly eaten by bats and then smeared the stuff on plastic fruits, which they then distributed in areas of damaged rainforest. The bats were attracted to the fake fruits, though they wouldn’t normally fly in degraded forest. Why go to all this trouble? Because the bats spread lots of seeds via their faeces, and could thus be used to restore the vegetation.