It is strange staying in an organic farm but not have anything to eat from it! We are wwoofing at Michael's Organic Mango Farm in Elizabeth Valley, Nanoomah, NT. Michael lives on this 20 acre property with Madame (Amelie's new best friend), and is happily sharing his produce with the termites and wildlife. Half of the farm is bush and the other half contains 380+ mango trees and several vegetable patches. Michael is a weekend gentleman farmer; working in Darwin during the day and tending to his farm in the evenings and on weekends. Organic mango farming apparently doesn't take much work outside the harvesting season. The fruits grow on their own, with a little help from chicken manure and some mulching. During harvest, all the fruits are picked over 3 days. The science of mango farming lies here; The sap burns so the fruits need to be picked in a special way. As the fruits are exported to the eastern states, Department of Ag / Quarantine requires that they have to be blanched in hot water (the centre of the fruit needs to be at 62degrees for 10 mins) for disease control. FYI, Non-organic fruit is dipped in chemicals such as dimethoate that cannot be washed off so think twice before buying non-local, non-organic fruits and vegetables! Michael’s mango orchard has been invaded by Mastotermes Termites that are hollowing out the trees and killing them. The harvest has dropped from 10tons to less than 5tons. As it is an organic farm, nothing much can be done about the termites and Mike is just waiting it out and looking for alternative crops. I suggested using Diatomaceous Earth, but was informed that applying DE over nearly 400 trees is just not practical! Any suggestions anyone? Our big question now is, HOW DO ORGANIC COMMERCIAL FARMS CONTROL THE TERMITES, PESTS & BIRDS? I learnt all about Integrated Pest Management (i.e. : leave the pests alone and bigger animals will take care of them, and overtime, they will all manage themselves….) but I can't see how this can really work in a big farm. We spent a lot of time planting Cassavas. These are being used as sacrificial plants in hope that they will divert the attention of the termites from the mangoes. We have been experimenting with recipes; Cassava chips are yummy, but Oumou takes a little getting used too. A big thank you to Mike for his hospitality and kindness!
7 Comments
George Ferreira
8/30/2020 10:25:05 am
Borax round the trees could help.
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12/19/2022 02:08:30 pm
İnstagram takipçi satın almak istiyorsan tıkla.
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1/4/2023 03:12:28 pm
100 tl deneme bonusu veren siteleri öğrenmek istiyorsan tıkla.
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