Chinyere Anyanwu, [email protected]

The essence of cultivating tree crops and fruit trees is to reap bumper harvests to enhance fruit yield, sufficiency and supply. However, this expectation can be truncated by excessive dropping of immature fruits owing to some factors that are beyond the farmer’s control.

Fruit dropping is the premature shedding of young unripened fruits and there are a number reasons this happens but with the right treatment, this can be prevented or stopped and the tree restored to full health and productivity.

Often, this manifests in the dropping of flowers during the flowering stage of the tree and breaking of the fruits from under, rotting and falling of the fruit before maturity. This results in the loss of more than half the yield of fruit trees annually.

Some causes of fruit dropping

Some causes of fruit dropping include weather, a natural phenomenon, which no one can control; inadequate pollination of young fruit, which will lead to the fruit being shed. This can be caused by inadequate presence of pollination helpers (like bees) during the bloom time of the trees; and the presence of disease and pests like worms, which can cause fruit to drop even if other ideal conditions are met. It is important to warn that using pesticide sprays while the trees are in bloom will terminate bees and other beneficial insects, and some sprays may even cause fruit drop if used on the wrong trees, in the wrong amounts, at the wrong times.

Another cause of fruit dropping is overbearing. Trees that try to overbear, especially in their early fruit production years, may succumb to early fruit drop. Young trees are more prone to drop fruit. If there is too much fruit forming, “survival of the fittest” kicks in, and the tree drops fruit. Some trees shed the newly formed fruit to protect their branches from the stress of the added weight.

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The best thing to do for the trees is to keep them in good health through regular pruning, especially of dead/damaged/diseased limbs and making sure they get the right nutrients.

In a bid to offer solution to these age-old problems of fruit dropping and fruit tree diseases, Nduken Agro Chemical Industries, an Abia State-based agro-input company, has introduced Nuva Tree Guide into the market, the result of a careful research, which has proven to be efficacious.

Nuva Tree Guide prevents and stops fruit dropping. It has been tested and found to be potent and effective in the prevention of general abortion in tree crops such as citrus (oranges, grapes, etc), coconut, African star apple (udara), avocado pear, mango, kolanut, guava, cocoa, cashew, apple and all fruit-bearing trees. It also stops the death of banana/plantain trees before they sprout.

According to Mr. Ndubisi Kenneth, the Chief Executive of Nduken Agro Chemical Industries, the need to help farmers improve their yearly fruit yield gave rise to the research effort that produced the Nuva Tree Guide.

The Nduken Agro Chemical Industries boss explained that Nuva Tree Guide is a needed agro-input in the enhancement of fruit productivity in the country. He said, “over the years, farmers watched helplessly as the flowers on their fruiting trees wither and drop their fruits pre-maturely. This agro-input is an indigenous chemical that prevents fruit trees from aborting their fruits prematurely.

“It is environmentally friendly and has no side effect. Components of Nuva Tree Guide are sourced locally and it comes in powdery form packaged in 30g and 50g sachets. With Nuva Tree Guide, tree crops and fruit-bearing trees can be given a good fruiting life and a new beginning.”

Mode of application: A 30g sachet is used per tree. The powdery substance is mixed ¡in a two or three litre container of water. Make one inch holes round the base of the plant and pour the mixture into the holes. This is to prevent the liquid from flowing out from the tree/plant’s roots. With this done, the healing process of the tree has kicked off.