Archive for February 2013

Emergence of Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Threatens to turn Cities into Deathtraps

February 27, 2013 Survival Skills Comments Off on Emergence of Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Threatens to turn Cities into Deathtraps

America’s densely populated urban areas may soon become lethal breading grounds for the rapid transmission of deadly diseases once easily treated and nearly eradicated in the West.  Some of the most dangerous reemerging diseases to appear in the US are antibiotic resistant strains of tuberculosis.  To date, the worst of these is Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis or (XDR-TB).  XDR-TB is an extremely deadly form of tuberculosis caused by bacteria that are resistant to even the most effective anti-TB drugs.  XDR-TB outbreaks have been showing up in a growing number of countries, to include most recently, South Africa.  XDR-TB in particular has the potential not only to quickly kill, even with aggressive and expensive long-term treatment, but could mutate further into a totally drug-resistant super disease capable of killing tens of millions of people.  Readers should remain vigilant, learn how to mitigate TB risks, and have a plan for reacting to outbreaks if you must live in an urban environment.

The United States could become ground zero for this reemerging epidemic very soon.  Los Angeles has just reported an outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis [http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/02/21/thousands-may-have-been-exposed-to-deadly-tb-epidemic-downtown/] amongst the city’s poor and homeless.  If XDR-TB gets into the general population of cities like Los Angeles, state agencies and medical facilities would be overwhelmed.  Further, the manner of XDR-TB transmission would make normal day to day activities in cities where close proximity is the norm a lethal gamble.  As XDR-TB and other drug resistant diseases continue to spread and mutate, it is only a short matter of time before America’s cities are death traps.

The first key to protecting yourself and your family is that it is important to know the facts.  TB infects one in three people in the world.  However, it is only when the bacterium becomes active do people become ill with TB allowing the disease to be unknowingly transported and spread.  Typically, a TB bacterium becomes active when a person’s immunity is compromised by an illness such as HIV, advanced age, or medical conditions.  Tuberculosis is one of the world’s deadliest diseases.  In 2011, nearly 9 million people around the world became sick with TB disease and about 1.4 million infected died.  Further, TB is a leading killer of people who are HIV infected.  A total of 10,528 TB cases (a rate of 3.4 cases per 100,000 persons) were reported in the United States in 2011.

The general symptoms of TB disease include feelings of sickness or weakness, weight loss, fever, and night sweats.  The symptoms of TB disease of the lungs may also include coughing, chest pain, and coughing up blood.  Symptoms of TB disease in other parts of the body depend on the area affected.  If you have these symptoms, you should contact your doctor or local health department.

Typically, TB can be treated with a course of four standard, or first-line, anti-TB drugs, but these are becoming more and more ineffective.  This is the result of drugs being misused or mismanaged, often in the third world, causing multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) to develop.  MDR-TB takes longer to treat with second-line drugs, which are more expensive and have more side-effects.  XDR-TB can develop when these second-line drugs are also misused or mismanaged and therefore also become ineffective.

XDR-TB, like other forms of TB is spread through the air. When a person with infectious TB coughs, sneezes, talks or spits, they propel TB germs, known as bacilli, into the air.  This makes TB extremely dangerous in densely populated areas because a person needs only to inhale a small number of these to be infected.  In fact, an outbreak of XDR-TB could potentially paralyze a city.

Treatment for MDR-TB and for XDR-TB are basically the same, but require the use of second-line drugs that are significantly more toxic than typical drugs used to treat normal TB.  In fact, both types of resistant TB Infection will require extensive chemotherapy for up to two years.  This toxic and aggressive treatment can cause a range of serious side-effects including hepatitis, depression and hallucinations. Patients are often hospitalized for long periods, in isolation and sometimes cannot tolerate the treatment resulting in a fatal TB infection.   Further, it is critical to note that treating resistant TB is extremely expensive and could overwhelm health services.  Specifically, second-line drugs are extremely expensive (up to 200 times higher than standard treatment drugs) and treatment often requires long term hospital inpatient care.  If a large percentage of the population becomes infected with TB, hospitals simply would not have the bed space and insurance companies would go broke trying to pay for the treatments.

To protect yourself and your family, avoid close contact or prolonged time with known TB patients or people in general in crowded, enclosed environments like clinics, hospitals, prisons, or homeless shelters.  If TB outbreaks become more common in your area, wearing a protective surgical mask and washing hands frequently will offer some protection.  Also, limit travel to countries where TB is prevalent and make sure you get a TB test upon return.  Further, avoid contact when possible with illegal immigrant populations as they are more prone to be infected with TB.  Note, persons applying to enter the US with immigrant or refugee visas must complete a questionnaire about any symptoms of TB they may have and obtain a chest radiograph. If positive, the person submits sputum specimens for examination for TB bacteria.  Persons identified as having infectious TB are not granted entry to the United States, until they have been treated.  However, illegal immigrants by-pass this critical health barrier and regularly reintroduce a host of diseases once eradicated in the US.  Considering the above, one’s best protection is to remain vigilant and avoid close contact with high risk populations.

 

By: Guiles Hendrik

 

Supporting Links:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2010/drug_resistant_tb_20100318/en/index.html

http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/treatment/drugresistanttreatment.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensively_drug-resistant_tuberculosis

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/02/11/doctors-struggling-totally-drug-resistant-tuberculosis-south-africa

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/02/01/170850792/quick-tb-test-builds-up-arsenal-against-drug-resistant-bacteria

Assessing the Success of the War on Terror Part II: Return on Investment and Perpetual War

February 25, 2013 9/11, Al Qaeda, Big Brother, Terrorism Comments Off on Assessing the Success of the War on Terror Part II: Return on Investment and Perpetual War

Part II of our series continues to evaluate the success of the War on Terror.  It is our thesis that not only has American policy and strategy failed to defeat terrorist threats to the United States from radical Islam, but it has in fact exasperated them.  Today, Al Qaeda and terrorism have become the new boogie men, replacing the Communist menace of the Cold War.  This manufactured threat has now taken on a persona of its own and has been used to justify endless war across the world.  Ultimately, it will be America’s downfall as the evidence is clear the US is losing the strategic war.

To illustrate this slide, consider the following.  On September 10, 2001, few Americans had ever heard the name Osama bin Laden (UBL) or were aware of the organization that came to be known as Al Qaeda (AQ).  Today, UBL and AQ are household names.  At the turn of the century, AQ consisted of perhaps a couple hundred fighters at most and was not broadly operational.  Today, AQ has branched into a franchise like organization recruiting operatives from Detroit, Michigan to Jakarta, Indonesia and numbering in the thousands.  In 2003, Al Qaeda didn’t exist in Iraq, but today it operates with near impunity in cities such as Mosul where it has established facilities for training and arming terrorists ready to conduct jihad in Syria and the greater Middle East.  In Afghanistan, the Taliban, which was once at least partially hostile to AQ, has fully integrated its operations with AQ extremists.  Further, the Taliban has spread beyond its original Kandahar region all throughout Afghanistan.  This includes regions previously controlled by the “Northern Alliance” and considered “immune” from the Taliban according to snake oil hacks like David Kilcullen and has now even spread over the borders into Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.  Other areas to include the Philippines, Indonesia, the Balkans, the Caucuses, and Western Europe have all seen steady growth of Islamic extremism.  Considering the above, one need not dig deeper than the blatantly obvious to realize that the War on Terror has not been won and in fact, has gone horribly wrong for the US.

Operationally, AQ has shown that it is not only resilient, but growing.  The fact that AQ is still operationally capable of killing an American Ambassador over a decade into this war is not only massively embarrassing for the US, but it proves US  senior leadership and strategy have been a failure.  Simply tracking the number and location of drone strikes one can quickly conclude that not only has the theater of AQ’s operations expanded from Afghanistan to one of global influence, but that AQ’s numbers are growing faster than the United States can target and kill its leaders.  Just as discussed in Part I of this series, limited targeted assassinations and strikes have been tried over and over throughout military history and have never yielded decisive gains.  Worse, the US appears to be living in ignorance of reality.  The progressive agenda during the most recent presidential campaign wanted to proclaim Obama defeated AQ and led US leaders to a naïve sense of security as a result of whitewashing the actual threat respective of the spread of AQ.  These ideological blinders led to the death of four Americans including an ambassador in Libya at the hands of AQ affiliated fighters on no less than September 11th when America should have been at its maximum state of readiness.  Associated with this fallout is the spread of Islamic extremism, terrorism, and insurgency now throughout the northern half of Africa.  This event was accurately predicted by our analysts and has now come to fruition as the weapons looted from Gadhafi’s arsenals have fallen squarely in the hands of extremists and AQ affiliated groups.  This includes more than 20,000 advanced man portable surface-to-air missiles, which we continue to predict will soon be used against a commercial airliner.

If Libya wasn’t a big enough disaster, the US has now begun to dig itself into an even broader war in Mali and other African countries from Nigeria to Somalia.  This has already cost innocent American lives in Algeria after Islamic terrorists attacked an oil facility in retaliation for America’s support to the French in Mali.  Nonetheless, the press does not hold President Obama, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, or any other senior policy maker accountable for the blood on their hands.  If American policy makers think Algeria was an isolated incident, they are ignorant and in denial of reality.  Americans appear quick to forget how well our operations in Somalia turned out and are again conducting the same type of operations clandestinely over a region thousands of times larger.  There simply is no need to involve the US in these local fights.  The blowback will be severe and certainly far outweigh any benefit except for the very few elites getting oil and mineral rights to the newly acquired lands wrought from disturbingly imperialistic motives.

Looking at AQ’s spread is not sufficient to capture the bigger strategic picture.  Not only has AQ, with the help of the US (most recently in Libya and Syria), globally expanded, but it has accomplished what even Pan-Arabism and Nasserism could not.  The “Arab Spring,” has taken down one former pro-American regime after another.  The dictators like Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak that have acted as America’s brutal puppets for decades are being toppled by Islamic extremists now routinely.  In the vacuum, the Muslim Brotherhood is consolidating power and moving the Middle East and North Africa firmly toward a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam and obliterating any vestige of a secular government.  This cataclysmic reordering of the geopolitical balance of the Middle East and North Africa is far from over as history is being made before our eyes.  We predict that with covert support from the US, Qatar, Turkey, and other nations, Syria will be the next regime to fall.  This is being done for the shortsighted goals of checking Iran’s regional dominance, but will lead to one of America’s greatest policy disasters in the region.  In effect, this will allow extremists to encircle the relatively friendly nation of Jordan and the US ally of Israel.  The monarchy in Jordan will then be threatened and could be toppled and reset the Middle Eastern stage to 1973 on the eve of Yom Kippur.  If Jordan falls, a final sweep of the region for extremists will be within reach.  In fact, it is then entirely likely UBL’s originally long term goal of toppling the Saudi regime will be realized.  This would allow Sunni extremists to form an unprecedented block of power throughout the Middle East and all but eliminate US influence in the region.

In conclusion of Part II of this series, we looked at how AQ has spread from a little known entity of a few individuals to a worldwide franchise.  Only through America’s disastrous self-defeating policies has this been possible.  Now, more than a decade into a war being fought against rebels that at best are third rate, the purportedly most powerful military in the world has been checked and strategically defeated.  The US is broke just as UBL intended and Washington is being forced to make painful cuts to domestic programs that may very well lead to massive social unrest.  In the end, the Islamists hold the ground from Asia to Africa as the US is forced to pull its forces back as the debts of tax dollars vainly wasted over the last decade come due.  As such, AQ still holds the battlefield as America retreats.  Based on this and using one of the oldest measures of victory in warfare, the Islamists have won and the US has been defeated thus far in the war of East versus West.

Part III will conclude this series and discuss the return on the investment of trillions of dollars in defense and security spending.  Most disturbingly, it will look at how the “terrorist” threat is now being used to declare American soil a battleground, justify the creation of a police state, and declare citizens threats and order their assassinations in secret all while bankrupting our nation.

 

By: Guiles Hendrik

Assessing the Success of the War on Terror Part I: Pakistan and the Failure of the Drone Strategy

February 17, 2013 Al Qaeda, Department of Defense, News and Intelligence, Politics, Terrorism Comments Off on Assessing the Success of the War on Terror Part I: Pakistan and the Failure of the Drone Strategy

As the never ending War on Terror drags on into the fourth consecutive presidential term without any decisive gains, one must question not only the effectiveness and strategy, but also our very leadership.  Nowhere is the ground truth more palpable than in western Pakistan.  Since President Obama took office and significantly increased drone strikes against alleged terrorist targets, America’s ability to safely operate and influence events in the country in a manner favorable to the United States has inversely deteriorated.  This is a direct result of America’s flawed drone strategy, which has strategically weakened the U.S. in Pakistan.

According to Gallup’s poll just released, more than nine in 10 Pakistanis (92%) disapprove of U.S. leadership and only 4% approve. Remarkably, this is the lowest approval rating Pakistanis have ever given the U.S. and its leadership.  This is noteworthy as President Obama’s ratings in Pakistan have sunk far below even those of the much criticized President George W. Bush.  Further, and more ominous, 57% of Pakistanis aged 15 to 29 and 53% of those 30 or older, deem interaction with the West as a threat.

Numerous explanations for this near total disdain for the U.S. have been suggested.  What is clear is that prior to the U.S. prosecuting the War on Terror via drones inside Pakistan, Americans enjoyed relative safety and warm relations.  As such, only a fool would be unable to make the connection between drone strikes, the violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, and growing hatred of the U.S.  Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S.  Sherry Rehman makes this much explicit in her comments to reporters two days before President Obama’s nominee to be the next head of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan’s, Congressional Testimony.  Ambassador Rehman expressed Islamabad’s view that America’s continued deployment of drones was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and was strategically counter-productive.  Specifically, she stated “We need to drain this swamp and instead it [the drone campaign] is radicalizing people.”  Rehman went on to say “It creates more potential terrorists on the ground and militants on the ground instead of taking them out.  If it’s taking out, say, a high-value or a medium-value target, it’s also creating probably an entire community of future recruits.”  Her statements are corroborated by a Pew research poll conducted last year that showed 74% of Pakistanis termed the U.S. as an “enemy.”

Our senior policy makers have failed to grasp strategy at the strategic level.  At best, they are fighting a tactical war.  Our leaders have proven themselves amateurs that are unable to mitigate and defeat even the lowest echelon of threats facing the U.S.  Further, they have no appreciation of the historical precedent respective of the use of limited cross-border strikes against insurgent type threats.  Had they done their homework and studied cross-border insurgencies, they would know that these limited surgical strikes are counter-productive just as Ambassador Rehman states.  In fact, no matter how great the tactical gains achieved are, they never result in decisive strategic gains and in fact, result in a sum net strategic loss.  Thus, war strategies reliant on limited cross-border strikes, such as our drone strikes in Pakistan, have a near perfect correlation with the counterinsurgent’s failure or better stated, the insurgent’s victory.  No further proof of this need be generated than a simple review of the contemporary hostile sentiment towards America in Pakistan.

In our Part II of this series, we will look in more detail at the results of America’s flawed strategy that has caused the spread of radical Islam across the globe, made Al Qaeda franchise, and perpetuated a fear culture to fuel unending war.

 

Sources:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/160439/2012-pakistani-disapproval-leadership-soars.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines%20-%20USA

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21389200

Gear Review: The Esbit Pocket Stove…Not Your Cold Weather Friend

February 8, 2013 Equipment Reviews, Food and Water, Survival Skills, Uncategorized One comment

The Esbit Stove is a light weight, collapsible, tablet powered backpacking stove.
At a mere 3.25 ounces and not much bigger than a deck of cards, the Esbit Pocket Stove is hard to ignore. Also, it’s relatively cheap price of around $15 makes it far more palatable than most of the $50+ stoves available.

It almost sounds too good to be true. This is because it IS too good to be true. If you are camping or backpacking in fair weather for fun then this stove is a good option. Unfortunately, if you find yourself being a last-minute survivor (hint hint) you should consider using this stove as a paper weight, regift, or barter item.

Why?
Although it shines in the size, weight, and price departments it will disappoint you in cold weather. I took the Esbit Pocket Stove on my most recent backpacking trip. After carrying a 45 lb. pack across 10 miles of rugged terrain, I sat down and set up to boil some water. The MRE’s issued to me in the past spoiled me rotten in the hot food department. It was easy back then. Just add water, literally. Not so this time friends! With the temperature at 40 degrees F and dropping fast, the Esbit Pocket Stove was unable to reliably provide the boiling water needed to rehydrate my freeze-dried backpacking meals. Pundits hush! Yes! I did use a wind screen! Sadly, the hot water I did end up with didn’t have the energy needed to bring my Mountain House dinner to full flavor. Adding insult to injury would be my fellow backpackers using isobutane/propane mini-stoves. These fancy contraptions allowed them to prepare their dinners and make coffee before I even had hot water.

The bottom line…
Although the Esbit Pocket stove might be cute, it simply won’t cut it in cold weather. Don’t buy it if you want anything more than somewhat hot water. In regards to preparedness, a fuel canister stove is not a good option either. A grid down situation won’t allow for a drive to the local REI to stock up on fuel canisters. As usual we have no silver bullet solution to last-minute survival stoves. Our best bet is to use what we have at hand. Rocket stoves, mentioned earlier on LMS, are a great solution. If you find yourself wanting something a bit prettier then check out the Vargo wood burning backpacking stove. Just add sticks, twigs, and a lit match. Doesn’t that K.I.S.S. rule keep sneaking up on you?

SGT. G, LMS Contributor

Essential Survival Equipment: Rocket Stoves

February 3, 2013 Equipment Reviews, Special Skills, Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures Comments Off on Essential Survival Equipment: Rocket Stoves
Basic Rocket Stove Schematic

Basic Rocket Stove Schematic

For anyone that has traveled extensively in the developing world, they are all too familiar with the fact over a billion people on this planet still prepare their meals over an open fire.  Most of these fires are inefficient, waste precious wood, release large amounts of Carbon Dioxide and smoke, and can be hazardous to health when used indoors.  To address these problems, many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and aid organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have sponsored development of cheap, highly efficient, and brutally simple means of making cooking fires.  The result has been an explosion of what we popularly know as “rocket stoves.”

Rocket stoves are of particular interest to any outdoor enthusiast and survivor for the same reasons they appeal to many across the world.  For starters, they can be built cheaply from everyday materials widely available such as soda or soup cans, sand, and nails.  Further, they are highly efficient and when properly constructed, can boil water in less time than a typical backpacking stove with just a handful of readily available twigs and branches.  The fact just a few scraps of cardboard and a few sticks can be used to fuel the stove and cook a full dinner makes them infinitely more sustainable for use in a grid down situation when liquid fuel for camp stoves or propane may be unavailable or too expensive.  They also can be extremely light weight making them great for travel.  Even better is the fact that modern commercial versions take advantage of the heat generated to produce electricity.  This heat converted to electricity is then used to power small fans to improve burn efficiency and chargers for cell phones and laptops.  Finally, they emit very little smoke making their use very low signature for times when a large smoky fire may draw unwanted attention.

Rocket stoves work better than conventional three stone cooking fires or wood cooking stoves by taking advantage of a super-heated combustion chamber that draws more and more pre-heated air from below as the fire gets hotter and hotter.  This principle is the same in modern, highly efficient, high-dollar, sealed wood and pellet stoves.  It is also why they seem to be able to burn much longer on far less wood.  When maximum efficiency is reached, the fire will be so hot that it burns the fuel nearly completely leaving little smoke.  Respective of the smoke, it is drawn through the hot flame and effectively re-burned so that minimal emissions are released by the stove.  Many enjoy experimenting with various designs to try and get the optimum efficiency.  A simple Google search for “rocket stoves” will yield thousands of examples, pictures, plans, and videos.  Mastering the construction of improvised rocket stoves will yield both an excellent skill for your survival portfolio and a useful camp stove on the cheap.

See below images for examples of improvised and commercial rocket stoves.

Improvised Soup Can Rocket Stove

Improvised Soup Can Rocket Stove

 

Improvised Ammo Can Rocket Stove

Improvised Ammo Can Rocket Stove

Source:http://www.bearridgetradingpost.com/2011/07/ammo-can-rocket-stove/

Biolite Amp Rocket Stove

Biolite Amp Rocket Stove

Source: http://electrictreehouse.com/ultra-efficient-camper-stove/

Biolite Commerical Rocket Stove

Biolite Commerical Rocket Stove

Source: http://electrictreehouse.com/ultra-efficient-camper-stove/

 

By Guiles Hendrik

 

 

 

Native Survival Foods: The Pawpaw

February 3, 2013 Equipment Reviews, Food and Water, Medical Information, Native, Special Skills, Super Foods, Survival Skills, Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures One comment
Clump of Pawpaws Source: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/438/438-105/438-105.html#L10

Clump of Pawpaws
Source: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/438/438-105/438-105.html#L10

Today, it is hard to not hear of people talking about stockpiling food.  The media and markets are loaded with options for non-perishables and foods packaged so that they can be stored for years.  This is great and LMS fully supports those that commit to long-term storage and stockpiling of backup food supplies.  However, it is equally valuable to know what foods nature readily provides often right in your backyard.  This post looks at the little known, native, North American super-fruit known as the pawpaw.

The pawpaw is a native fruit that grows on smaller trees that are almost tropical in appearance.  The fruit weighing on average about 8 ounces looks similar to a mango from the outside with a green skin and large, dark, pumpkin like seeds on the inside.  The fruit has a custard like yellowish inside that has a taste reminiscent of a banana, mango, and pineapple and ripens between late August and early October.  The fruit is super rich in protein, anti-oxidants, and is reported to have cancer fighting qualities.  Further, the fruit produces its own insect repellent and in a concentrated form can be used to even treat resistant head lice effectively.  The tree is so well adapted, it doesn’t require the use of pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides to grow healthy unlike other non-native fruit trees such as various apple and orange trees.  However, the tree does play host to the beautiful Zebra swallowtail butterfly, whose larvae feed exclusively and harmlessly on the tree.  The trees are typically found along fertile, well-drained soil lining the banks of streams and rivers stretching from the mid-Atlantic to Michigan.

Pawpaw fruit has a rich history in America even though in recent years it has been nearly forgotten.  The pawpaws were so sought after, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are said to have grown and cultivated them on their farms.  Further, not only were they valued by Native Americans, but American history tells us that Lewis and Clark cheated starvation by surviving on the fruit during their return trip along the Missouri River to St. Louis.

By studying a bit online, one can quickly become familiar with the pawpaw and learn to identify it in the wild.  For those fortunate enough to have access to one of these bountiful fruit trees, just a few fruits in the late summer/early fall can yield a delightful and refreshing addition to your diet.  Further, they make excellent additions to fruit smoothies, yogurts, and ice cream.  The fruit puree can also be used to make a host of other items such as jams, wines, breads, and desserts.  Just remember, the pawpaw does not keep well once it ripens and must be used or frozen within three days of peak ripeness.

If you are not fortunate enough to have access to one of these trees, you can buy both the pawpaw fruit and the saplings online from a few boutique sources such as http://www.owennativefoods.com/ , which specialize in selling varieties of native super-foods such as the pawpaw in an organic and sustainable manner.  Note:  Sources such as Owen Native Foods sell the future season’s crop early (usually between December and March) so it is best to place orders far in advance of the harvest season.  Under the proper conditions, you can grow your own pawpaw trees and have a sustainable super-food industry right in your backyard.

Experimental Pawpaw Orchard Source: Blandy Experimental Farm

Experimental Pawpaw Orchard
Source: Blandy Experimental Farm

For additional information on this outstanding, but little known native fruit, visit the Virginia Cooperative Extension, which gives the following information about paw paws on its website: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/438/438-105/438-105.html

The crop is well adapted to the Eastern U.S. climate and soil conditions. Pawpaw is adapted to humid temperate zone growing conditions.  It is hardy to the USDA growing zone 5 (-20°F or -29°C), and needs at least 400 hours in annual chilling requirements (time exposed to 35° to 45°F during winter months, depending on the cultivar).  This is a low chill requirement compared to other tree fruit species (apples 800 to 1,700 hours), and once met, the trees will begin to flower early in the spring.  A long, warm season is required to mature fruit (2,600 degree days; ~160 frost-free days).  From 30 to 35 inches of rainfall is needed annually, with the majority falling in the spring and summer.  Contrary to popular belief, pawpaw performs best in full-sun exposure.  However, sunlight protection is needed in the first year in the field, as young tree shoots are sensitive to sunlight.  In an orchard setting, this is accomplished by using commercially available tree shelters.

The pawpaw is a unique/unusual fruit crop with high nutritional value and potential for both fresh and processed market uses.  As a food source, pawpaw exceeds apple, peach, and grapes in vitamin, mineral, amino acid, and food energy values.  The current and primary market for fruit is as a fresh product in farmers markets and other direct sales outlets.  Though large-scale commercial processing markets do not yet exist, the fruit’s intense flavor and aroma have significant potential in blended fruit drinks, baby food, ice cream, and as a substitute for banana in various baking recipes.  In Kentucky, various entrepreneurs are utilizing pawpaw as a local cuisine item for restaurants and in frozen custard and ice cream products.

There are valuable natural compounds in the plant, which have both anti-carcinogenic and pesticidal properties.  Aromatic compounds in the fruit have potential for use in cosmetics and home products.  Research has shown that pawpaws have a diversity of natural compounds in fruit, leaves, bark, and twigs.  One class of compounds known as annoaceous acetogenins occurs in leaves and twigs and has reported anti-tumor properties.  Currently, Purdue University has patented an extraction procedure and the development of an herbal formulation is underway by a private company.  Commercial drug manufacturers, however, have shown limited interest in the compounds.  An alkaloid, asimicin, is found in the seeds, leaves, and bark of pawpaw and is reported to have pesticidal properties.  Pawpaws are resistant to insect and disease pressure.  This may be due to asimicin and other natural defense compounds.  With proper management, organic production of pawpaw is feasible.  Aromatic constituents isolated from fruit may hold potential for marketing as well.

By Guiles Hendrik