Access Agriculture

Proper handling of baobab fruits at harvest (Summary)

Baobab fruit juice made from the pulp is very healthy, and can be added to porridge and sauces. However, the quality of the pulp can be greatly affected if fruits are not handled well during and after harvest. When baobab pods are damaged and have splits in the shell, moisture and insects can easily get to the pulp and spoil it.

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Making mango crisps (Summary)

Dried mango crisps are a tasty and a healthy snack that can be sold even out of season at a good price.

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Proper handling of mangoes at harvest (Summary)

If proper care is taken at harvest, losses can be minimized, consumers will have better quality fruit, and the farmers will earn more money.

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Managing the mango seed weevil (Summary)

The best way to check if you have mango seed weevils is by using sticky bands. Put a sticky band around each tree trunk, at the upper end of the trunk before it branches. The best way to control mango seed weevils is to burn an aromatic mixture to smoke out the pest. Also regularly remove and destroy dropped fruits in your orchard.

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Grafting mango seedlings (Summary)

With grafting, a young shoot from a preferred mango variety is attached to a seedling. The seedling will develop the root and base of the tree. This is called the rootstock. The young shoot that is grafted onto the rootstock is called the scion. This will develop into the canopy.

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Staking and pruning passion fruit (Summary)

A well-managed passion fruit orchard can provide farmers with some good money throughout the year. In this audio podcast, we will learn how to stake passion fruit plants and prune the vines systematically so as to get good yields.

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Selective harvest of mangoes (Summary)

Harvest is a very crucial part of your work as a farmer. If you get it right you will be rewarded with higher yields and better fruit quality – which translates to more income. In this audio podcast, we will explain to you what you need to do to improve your harvesting practice.

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Making better shea butter (Summary)

Shea butter is used a lot in cooking, traditional medicine and cosmetic products. However traditional extraction of shea butter doesn’t follow required hygiene rules, this results in unsafe butter that can cause illness in consumers. In this audio podcast, we will learn how women in the South of Mali have improved the production of shea butter.

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Preparing cashew apple juice (Summary)

People enjoy cashew nuts, whereas cashew apples are less valued. Leaving cashew apples on the land is an enormous loss of money. However, cashew apples can be processed into a nutritious juice which can be consumed throughout the year.

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Promoting weaver ants in your orchard (Summary)

Weaver ants help to protect your fruit and nuts from fruit flies and many other pests. If you don’t have weaver ants in your orchard yet, collect all the nests from an ant colony and transfer them to one of your fruit trees. Help the ants to spread to more trees by connecting neighbouring trees with a string or stick. If ants from neighbouring trees fight, they are from different colonies and should be separated. Cut any branches that connect both trees. Apply ash to your arms and feet, or to the branch on which you will stand, to pick the fruit.

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Weaver ants against fruit flies (Summary)

It takes a few minutes for a fruit fly to find a suitable spot on the mango and inject her eggs under the skin of the fruit. But even in that short time, the weaver ants will have either chased her away or have captured her. Their scent also helps. When other insects detect the scent of weaver ants, they prefer to stay away.

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Collecting fallen fruit against fruit flies (Summary)

One fruit fly can lay a few hundred eggs during her life. Fruit flies puncture the skin of fruit to lay their eggs, which cause the fruit to drop prematurely and rot. The worms that hatch from these eggs leave the spoilt fruit after one week and crawl into the soil where they develop into fruit flies. From one infested fruit many fruit flies can develop, so never leave any fruit on the ground in the open air.

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Integrated approach against fruit flies (Summary)

Fruit flies inject their eggs in fruit. A single fruit fly can lay hundreds of eggs, which turn into white worms that eat the inside of fruit. If no action is taken, fruit flies quickly increase in numbers and can destroy your entire crop. Always combine different methods: • Place traps; • Use food baits; • Encourage weaver ants; and • Collect and destroy any fallen fruit.

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Riparian zone protection (Summary)

In Kenya, small-scale farmers stabilise river banks and reduce rainwater runoff from nearby plots by planting trees and grasses.

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Solar drying pineapples (Summary)

Many pineapples are wasted, because they cannot be kept fresh for more than a week. By drying pineapples farmers can reduce waste and earn more money throughout the year.

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Date palm management (Summary)

Some practical advice on the management of date palms with suggestions for reducing humidity levels, trimming, intercropping and weeding.

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Date palm IPM (Summary)

This audio looks at various modern methods of integrated biological control in the fight against the pests of palm trees. It features the use of intercropping, light traps and environmentally-friendly organic pesticides.

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Making pressed dates (Summary)

Dates have a short harvesting season, and must be consumed or processed immediately after harvest. Otherwise they will spoil and you won’t be able to store them. To be pressed, all the dates you use must have the same ripeness so that you can store them as long as you want. This audio podcast will also show the hygienic practices and preparations that must be done for a clean food product.

Download the full audio podcast in different languages at: www.accessagriculture.org 

Integrated approach against fruit flies (Summary)

Fruit flies inject their eggs in fruit. A single fruit fly can lay hundreds of eggs, which turn into white worms that eat the inside of fruit. If no action is taken, fruit flies quickly increase in numbers and can destroy your entire crop. Always combine different methods: • Place traps; • Use food baits; • Encourage weaver ants; and • Collect and destroy any fallen fruit.

Download the full audio podcast in different languages at: www.AccessAgriculture.org