VIENNA, VA -- The National Apple Month program has announced the winners of the fall 2006 National Apple Month retail and military display contests, bringing the apple industry's fall generic apple promotion to a close.

The annual contest, which kick-starts the domestic apple industry's marketing season, provided retailers and the apple industry with increased sales and gave consumers easy access to great-tasting, healthy apples.

It might be at least another year before the produce industry sees big gains in the use of radio frequency identification, according to two industry executives closely in tune with the situation.

Bob Spence, vice president of business development for Pacific Tomato Growers Inc. in Wimauma, FL, is chairman of the Produce Marketing Association's RFID Issues Committee. Both he and PMA's RFID expert Gary Fleming agreed that 2007 appears to be a year with more testing and evaluation of the technology rather than implemention even by the industry's most progressive companies.

SANTA CLARA, CA -- A couple of Silicon Valley-based high-tech companies are developing diagnostic tools for the purpose of detecting deadly pathogens in food supplies.

NanoSensors Inc., a nanotechnology development company based here, is licensing nanoporous silicon-based biosensor technology through Michigan State University and a university in South Korea to develop food-safety analysis systems.

BASILICATA, ITALY -- Produce, food and wine distributors, importers, and buyers from around the world toured production facilities and farms throughout the Basilicata region of Italy Jan. 16-20. Members of the group of approximately 25 people came from nearly every corner of the world, such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Abu Dhabi, the United States and Russia, and included national officials from some of the countries and several journalists.

As a leading importer of mangos from Peru, Ventura, CA-based Freska Produce International is experiencing heavy volumes, said the firm's Chuy Loza.

"So far, Peru exports are ahead of schedule," Mr. Loza said. "Now through the latter part of the season, the market should stay very strong."

One might say it all depends on how you look at it.

Any way you look at it, California's week-long deep freeze was costly to citrus growers and packers. It will mean missed sales opportunities for retailers. And it will be a hardship on thousands of workers on farms and in packinghouses who will be out of work or have their hours curtailed because of the short crop.