Maximum Yield USA October/November 2020 | Page 18

max FACTS Woman Terrified by Potatoes after Return from Lockdown Having been gone from her home in Caen, France for three months to spend mandatory lockdown with her boyfriend, Donna Porée, 22, returned home in June to find a frightening scene growing in her kitchen. Turns out, she had nothing to be afraid of, though the sight of three-foot potato sprouts growing through her shelves and up the walls gave her a fright when she turned the lights on. “As I opened the front door, I noticed a strange shape at the back of the kitchen,” she told The Sun. “As the light was off and shutters down, I didn’t realize it was the potatoes. It was only after opening the shutters that I took note of this extraordinary sight. I was terrified at first, but after realizing what it was, I laughed a lot.” Porée had left a $3 bag of potatoes under the shelves when she left, not thinking she would return to such a sight. — thesun.co.uk Five Cleanest Fruits and Vegetables The Environmental Working Group recently published its ranking of the fruits and vegetables that are lowest in pesticide residues, primarily based on USDA testing. To develop the list, the EWG reviews 48 common, non-organic fruits and vegetables, including US-grown and imported items. Topping the list is avocado after the USDA tested 360 avocados and founder fewer than one percent had pesticide residues. Tests were done after the skin is peeled, so most pesticides in avocados are removed with the skin. Coming in at No. 2 is sweet corn, but keep in mind the ranking does not include glyphosate (Roundup) residue that some corn has been modified to resist. The FDA has only recently started testing corn for glyphosate residues. Third on the list is pineapple, another fruit that is consumed after the pesticide-containing skin is removed. Onions are fourth after pesticide residues were found on less than 10 percent of those sampled. Rounding out the top five is the humble papaya. — healthline.com Sri Lankan Coir Industry Thrives Despite Pandemic Due to the growing popularity of coco substrates and the quality of Sri Lankan coco products, the industry has seen rapid growth that was hampered by the COVID pandemic. The effects of the lockdown were big, both for the horticultural supply chain and for the 20,000 people working in the direct coco husk supply chain, as well as another 100,000 indirect jobs in Sri Lanka. However, due to the timely intervention of ECAS (Exporter Association of Coconut husk-based substrates), the industry was running again within less than two weeks, although production capacities remained lower due to social distancing and other guidelines. Established in 2008, ECAS is responsible for almost 95 percent of the coconut husk-based total exports from Sri Lanka. With these amounts, they are also responsible for more than 120,000 employment opportunities in the supply chain, positioning the industry among the top 10 of foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka. — hortdaily.com 18 Maximum Yield