HENRY INTERNATIONAL

Primary school children could show better attention by consuming flavonoid-rich blueberries, following a study conducted by the University of Reading.In a paper published in Food & Function, a group of 7-10 year olds who consumed a drink containing wild blueberries or a matched placebo and were tested on their speed and accuracy in completing an executive task function on a computer.The double blind trial found that the children who consumed the flavonoid-rich blueberry drink had 9% quicker reaction times on the test without any sacrifice of accuracy. In particular, the effect was more noticeable as the tests got harder.Professor Claire Williams, a neuroscience professor at the University of Reading said:：“This is the first time that we have seen the positive impact that flavonoids can have on the executive function of children. We designed this double blind trial especially to test how flavonoids would impact on attention in young people as it's an area of cognitive performance that hasn't been measured before.”

The California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA) says it has not yet received reports of any of its members being directly impacted from the wildfires around the state.On Tuesday the number of people confirmed dead in Northern California rose to 15, with at least 100,000 acres scorched, according to the LA Times.Key wine grape-growing areas such as Napa are reported to have been heavily affected, with the fires having destroyed hundreds of buildings.“In terms of the commodities that we represent here in California…we haven’t heard of any direct impacts yet,” CFFA director of member relations and communications Ian LeMay told Fresh Fruit Portal on Tuesday afternoon.“Obviously situations like this sometimes can impact transportation routes to different markets and some of our members could have issues getting their products to market. “But with this being such an immediate and ongoing situation in multiple areas of the state right now, it’s hard to put our finger on how this could impact the California fresh fruit market.”He pointed out that there had been numerous wildfires in California over the long and hot summer, including serious fires in the south.

Once the agricultural season begins, some of the main concerns of the fruit producers are yield, caliber and condition, factors that will be determinant in the final return of the producer.After the occurrence of the flowering-fruit event, the development and initial growth of the fruit will be determined by the process of cell division, moment in which the hormonal and nutritional support would be fundamental for enhance this process. In response to this necessity, Stoller Chile is working since 18 years in different areas of the country with the product Stimulate®, bio stimulant that possess hormonal cofactors (auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins), that promote the general growth and the development of both the plant, as well as the caliber and condition of the fruits. With the aim of enhance at the maximum the physiological events (cellular division) and generate an impact on the caliber’s parameters, dry matter and weight of the fruit, a new product was developed, Stimulate Fruit Sizer®, a bio stimulant that possess a major content and balance of hormonal cofactors, achieving to generate a major impact on the fruit. The Achondo Sullivan agricultural company has been using the gauge program in table grapes and cherries for 5 seasons, and in the 2016-2017 season it used Stimulate Fruit Sizer® in some sectors. Other commercial alternatives were tried in the grape quarters where the product was applied, and the most notable was the Stimulate Fruit Sizer®, increasing up to 1 mm in size, from large to extra caliber. In addition, it managed to concentrate the harvest and increase the percentage of fruit with exportable quality. In cherries, it was tested it in the Santina, Lapins, Bing and Sweetheart varieties, and managed to mobilize the caliber curve to larger sizes, reaching 90% of the fruit with a caliber greater than 28 mm.https://www.portalfruticola.com/noticias/2017/09/12/nueva-formula-incrementara-calibre-rendimiento-calidad-fruta/

This is turning out to be a very good season for Washington cherry growers.It could be a record harvest, with an increasingly global reach. Asia has a growing appetite for Northwest cherries, but could politics disrupt this blossoming market? Kyle Mathison, a fourth-generation cherry grower on Stemilt Hill in Wenatchee is increasingly sending his Northwest morsels to Asia.In South Korea, you can find Wenatchee cherries stacked at street markets, among kimchi and fish. It’s all thanks to a six-year-old trade deal, called KORUS, which slashed tariffs on products like cherries. According to the Northwest Cherry Growers, an industry association, cherry exports to Korea have grown steadily since the trade deal took effect. Today, they're double what they were four years ago. China is eating them up, too. In 2013 the Pacific Northwest sent them 11,000 tons of cherries. This year, exports are expected to top 23,000 tons. Recently however, the trade relationship with Korea has hit some turbulence. “From when the U.S. - Korea trade deal was signed in 2011 to 2016, and you know who signed it, you know who wanted it, our trade deficit with South Korea has increased by more than $11 billion, not exactly a great deal,” President Donald Trump said from the White House lawn in June. He says imports of Korean autos and steel are threatening American jobs and his administration is already in the process of reviewing and reforming the KORUS agreement. The Northwest Cherry Growers Association says changes to the KORUS deal could have a big impact on the Washington fruit industry, though it's uncertain what, specifically, the President has in mind.  Publication date: 8/8/2017

Following the release of the June-bearing strawberry, Malling Centenary in 2013 from the East Malling Strawberry Breeding Club (EMSBC), based at NIAB-EMR, they claim the demand for the variety has been considerable. "There is huge enthusiasm for the berry