Hormones in the farming environment.

[BSJ]

Now that I am living in the village F/T and the wife is about to take over the running of her properties and manage her mums orchard I have a few questions about hormones.

I ask the wife to explain the reason for so much spraying of hormones and she doesn't give me a satisfactory answer. They spray everything with hormones.

I also don't understand the frequency of spraying. Why is it necessary to spray fruit trees weekly or everytime it rains? Surely the plants/trees have absorbed the hormones into their system in a short period of time....which should last for weeks.

Maybe someone in the know can point me to a text or journal that can explain in English what I need to know.

It's information, like below, I have read on animal use that worries the he11 out of me!

"

Hormones permitted in Canadian beef production Natural Hormones:

• Progesterone- Naturally occurring reproductive hormone that has been linked to tumours in the reproductive tract of laboratory animals.

• Testosterone- Reproductive hormone that has been linked to prostate cancer in laboratory animals.

• Estradiol 17B – This hormone is identified as a “complete carcinogen” (it both promotes and initiates the growth of tumours) and has been linked to shrinking of the thymus gland (which is the center of immune system functioning).

Synthetic Hormones:

• Trenbolone Acetate (TBA)- This synthetic hormone has been linked to pancreatic and liver tumours as well as hyperplasia.

• Zeranol- Synthetic hormone linked to testicular abnormalities, pituitary gland tumours

• Melengestrol Acetate (MGA)- MGA is systematically fed to cattle as a feed additive. It is linked to mammary tumours in female laboratory animals.

"

[BSJ]

Ok, no one is interested in helping me find Thai related English language articles so I will have to rely on English language articles from English speaking countries. I get it!

[Ace of Pop]

[loong]

Ok, no one is interested in helping me find Thai related English language articles so I will have to rely on English language articles from English speaking countries. I get it!

Maybe nobody knows, so they are unable to assist you.

I only have a very little amount of knowledge regarding hormones and that is all to do with rooting. I know nothing about spraying hormones on fruit trees.

Would you like a lot of people post to say that they don't have the knowledge to address your query?

[BAYBOY]

BSJ,

First I think the information you have been given re weekly spraying of fruit and vegetables, is actually not hormones but pesticides and insecticides. Most Thai fruit and vegetable farmers spray often to kill pests and stop diseases in their products. Spraying after rain to control this is common.

Re hormones. My experience is only with hormones and mango trees, but I understand that hormones are used on most citrus fruit trees as well.

These are usually used to induce the fruit tree to flower then fruit out of season. Application is done after pruning, which of course is usually done after the tree has fruited naturally. Application can be done by feeding the tree around the base trunk or by spray, however best results are achieved by hand feeding. Following hormone being given to the tree it is important to water the trees straight away then water every 10 days. Watering gets the hormone to the feeder roots and the tree will hopefully then start to shoot new leafs and then flower and fruit in approx. 90 days.

The name of the hormone used for mangoes is paclobutrazol. The product is sold as Cultar, you could check out both names on Google, to get more information re hormones / fruit trees. This hormone is used world wide mainly in tropical countries. and has been used for several years.

Apart from encouraging the trees to fruit out of season, and in the case of mangoes itis possible to get 3 crops a year including the natural crop. A side effect on mangoes is that the hormone when used reduces the number of vegetative growth flushes which results in more consistent flowering leading to higher fruit yields.

Naturally if one can produce fruit out of season it is possible then to obtain much higher prices than at the normal fruiting time.

If trees are given regular applications of the hormone the tree will / should fruit as I say 3 times a year. The trees productive life is about 25 years, so many growers, alternate hormone applications to every 2 years.

Hope this is of some help. Remember that most of the spraying you see being done here is for pest control. There is a cucumber plot next to our land and they spray the plants every week to control insects. The sprays have a strong smell, and they always spray the day before picking to "green up" the cucumbers.

Cheers BAYBOY.