MAX FACTS GROWING TIPS, NEWS AND TRIVIA
Organic Industry Continues Double-digit Growth
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has recently released data showing that there are now
more than 21,000 certified organic operations in the United States, and more than 31,000 around
the world. These numbers represent an increase of almost 12 percent between 2014 and 2015,
continuing the trend of rapid growth in the organic sector as consumer demand grows. The announcement
marks the first time the data was released through the recently launched Organic Integrity Database, a
modernized system for tracking certified organic operations. In the past, AMS’s National Organic Program
(NOP) published the number of certified organic operations once a year, using data submitted annually by
accredited organic certifying agencies. With the new database — funded by the 2014 Farm Bill — organic
certifiers can add new operations and report changes to existing operations at any time, allowing them
to report updated counts of certified organic operations throughout the year.
— usda.gov
NASA Learns to Grow Martian Potatoes
In a case of life imitating art, NASA, like the fictional botanist
Mark Watney, is experimenting with growing Martian potatoes,
though so far only in the Mars-like soil of the Peruvian
desert. Growing food will be critical to long-term human
missions to Mars. “In The Martian, Mark Watney uses
the Martian soil to grow potatoes in the controlled
environment of the ‘Hab,’” NASA writes in a blog
post. “In reality, the soil on Mars actually does
have the nutrients plants would need to survive on
Mars!” NASA and scientists at the Lima-based International Potato
Center are testing 65 of the 4,500 varieties of Peruvian potatoes to
determine which are best suited for deep-space cultivation. Potatoes
are adaptable to many climates and are considered highly nutritious, with
carbohydrates, protein, vitamin C, iron and zinc.
— csmonitor.com
Good Eyesight? That’s Bananas!
Researchers have published a study in the American Chemical Society's Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry that demonstrates a new understanding of how bananas
make and store carotenoides. Carotenoids are important vitamin precursors for eye
health. Their findings could someday help in the development of banana varieties with
enhanced health benefits. Vitamin A deficiency is rampant in Africa and Southeast Asia,
causing an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 children to become permanently blind each
year, the researchers note. Even worse, half of those children die within a year of losing
their sight. To combat vitamin A deficiency, other researchers have been investigating
methods to boost carotenoids in bananas, because these compounds are converted
into vitamin A in the liver. The researchers studied two banana varieties to find out why
they make very different amounts of carotenoids. They found that the pale yellow, lowcarotenoid Cavendish variety produces more of an enzyme that breaks down carotenoids.
— pubs.acs.org
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Maximum Yield USA | June 2016