Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) can be grown throughout the year. You can start harvesting tomato fruits 8 – 9 weeks after transplanting. One tomato plant can yield 4 – 6 kg (10 – 15 lbs.) of fruits.

Tomato belongs to the Solanaceae family. Other crops belonging to this family include pepper and melongene.

Tomatoes are high in vitamins A and C and lycopene.

The papaya or pawpaw (Carica papaya) is one of the most popular fruits for consumers and producers alike. It can be very profitable and rewarding for a farmer even on a small parcel of land (0.2 ha). There are a number of processing opportunities for the fruit. Of course there is always the potential to generate foreign exchange through export.

All types of livestock experience heat stress. This happens when the relative humidity and temperature of their surroundings are high.

Fertile duck eggs must be incubated in order to hatch. This can be done either: naturally (duck sits on them), or in an incubator.

Black Pod disease is caused by a fungus, Phytophthora palmivora. It infects pods, flower cushions, young vegetative shoots, stems and roots of cocoa trees. Black pod disease occurs mainly during the rainy season and is spread mainly by rain splash. When it is dry, such as in the dry season, the fungus is unable to grow, reproduce or infect cocoa.

Rehabilitation is the transformation of old, abandoned or semi-abandoned estates into productive, money earning enterprises. Unproductive cocoa trees are replaced with high-yielding, disease tolerant varieties. Yields would greatly increase if the cocoa plants are planted at a closer spacing instead of the traditional method.

A seventy per cent (70%) shade is absolutely necessary for newly established young cocoa plants. This should be gradually reduced to twenty five per cent (25%) shade for cocoa trees over five to seven years. Shade is needed to reduce water loss in the dry season.

Harvesting involves the removal of fully mature and ripe cocoa pods from the trees, and opening them to extract the beans (figure 2). Harvest pods with sharp cocoa knives or cutlasses. Do not damage the flower cushion