Downpour harms papaya crops in Brazil

January 03 , 2012

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Brazil's papaya harvest has been damaged due to heavy rains in its growing heartland state of Bahia, website G1.globo.com reported.

The strong downpour, along with high humidity, has led to trees suffering from fungal outbreaks.

Teixeira de Freitas producer Cleriston Salomão, has 18 hectares of papaya planted in the extreme south of Bahia. He told the website the rain was as high as three feet in some parts of his farm, adding he had lost half a hectare of crops.

Agronomist Luciano Mendonca said the fungal damage is so great that in some areas complete harvests were lost, the story reported. He advised that herbicide use should be more frequent during the rainy season to dry and contain the disease.

Photo: Oregonlive.com