The Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station has developed a device to accurately control when bees enter and exit hives to boost passion fruit production.
The station on Friday demonstrated the automatic entrance device that regulates the insects’ “clock-in times” in artificial beehives.
Passion fruit grown in screen houses must either be pollinated by bees or by hand, station Director Lo Cheng-tsung (羅正宗) said.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station
The amount of pollen deposited on the stigma of a passion fruit flower determines the size of the fruit, making manual pollination preferable, but the procedure is labor intensive, limiting cultivation, he said.
Traditional bee pollination resolves the scale problem, but bees are not guaranteed to pollinate the flowers at the best times — when the stigma bends down to the anthers during blooming, which lasts for one day — meaning they are unable to maximize the amount of pollen deposited, which results in fruit of irregular size, Lo said.
The station’s automatic entrance device allows bees to “clock in for work” precisely within the optimal pollination time, he said.
It not only improved the consistency of fruit size, but also reduced the ratio of small fruit, he said.
The device helped increase passion fruit production through bee pollination to almost the same level as manual pollination, thereby boosting yield and farmers’ income, the station said.
In other news, the Agriculture and Food Agency on Friday said it has taken stabilization measures to address shrinking garlic bulbs and reduced garlic production in Yunlin County, caused by climate change, pests and diseases.
The agency has sent personnel and agricultural experts to affected production areas to assist farmers in controlling pests and diseases, it said.
Garlic yield per unit area is projected to decline due to this year’s warm winter, but the overall production would be enough to meet domestic demand, it said.
The agency also urged garlic farmers to properly dry freshly harvested garlic and refrain from rushing to market.
Drying centers operated by a garlic-growers’ association in the county would be opened, allowing up to 1,500 tonnes to be dried simultaneously, it said, adding that dried garlic could be stored at room temperature until October.
Regarding whether the government would provide natural disaster relief for farmers, the agency said pest and disease control do not fall within the scope of natural disasters as it is considered related to field management.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS