Avocado farming in India can turn farmers life due to huge profit. Avocado yield per acre is 75000 kg. Avocado price is around Rs 150 to Rs 500 and farmer can achieve a huge income returns i.e. Rs 300 x 75000 = Rs 22500000.
Avocado farming business plan
First start an avocado farming by practicing the best practices which are given in this post. Once you started your avocado farm now its time to setup a business or if you already have a farm then you can scale it.
You can open a store or deliver fruits directly from the farm. In order to earn a good income try to sell the fruits through out the India and abroad. In this case, you need online presence where people can easily find you. You can sell the product at higher price where it is not available but has a demand.
To maintain online presence one must have there own business website. No need to list your products on Amazon or other platforms because you have to give them huge percentage (around 30%) and you may not earn a decent profit.
So, it is recommended to have your own website for product selling. It is true that today lots of farmers have their own websites and they are directly selling there products. You can email us for your 1st professional website creation by visiting about us or contact us page.
How to start avocado farming
You need to follow the basic steps given below to start avocado farming for profit
Where is avocado grown in India
The orchard originated in Central America and Mexico due to the appropriate climate condition for avocado trees. However, avocado grows scattered in India in such tropical places like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sikkim and some north east states moreover it easily grows in Andaman and Nicobar islands due to the tropical climate conditions. Srilanka also grows the fruit in large quantity again due to appropriate climate conditions.
Avocado farming in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, North UP, North East States, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, South Himachal Pradesh and some region of West Bengal is done.
Climate
Avocado tree easily grows in tropical climate and temperature required is between 20 °C to 30 °C. 50 to 60 percent humidity is required for this plant.
They can tolerate cold weather easily but temperature below 5° C is not good for them. Temperature below 5° can damage the flowers whereas temperature above 40° can shrink both flower and fruit. In India avocado’s are mostly grown in Tamil Nadu and Kerala region.
Rain
100 cm rain fall per year is needed for successful avocado cultivation in India. Due to less rain it is difficult to grow avocado in places like Rajasthan, north Gujarat, some Maharashtra and Karnataka region. However, with water arrangements they can be grown there as well.
Soil
Red soil is not good for them, avocado orchid likes clay soil therefore laterite soil is best choice for the orchard. The soil pH level should be between 5 to 7 ph. You should measure soil moisture level before starting avocado cultivation check soil type for better results in the future.
Before growing avocado for profit one need to check these parameters:
- Temperature needed - 20 C° to 30 C°.
- Humidity should be between – 50 to 60 %.
- Rainfall – 100 cm per year.
- Soil requirements – laterite soil is very useful for growing avocado plants.
Avocado yield per acre
Avocado tree produces 2 kg fruits in first 2 years. It will produce 8 kg fruits after 3rd year and after 10 years it is capable of producing 1.5 quintal fruits. In 1 acre 500 trees are able to produce 150 kg x 500 trees = 75000 kg fruits. Avocado tee lives around 50 years.
Avocado price
Avocado price per kg is between Rs 150 to Rs 400. Avocado price in delhi per kg is between Rs 130 to Rs 400.
Different varieties
Hass - It is the most popular variety and does not require much care. It is available throughout the year. It is small to medium size fruit looks like egg. It turns purple blackish colour when ripened, creamy and contains green flesh.
Fuerte - Earlier fuerte avocado was much popular than hass but new variety of hass has replaced it. Fuerte are less oily than others it’s a Mexican hybrid while talking about size and weight it is medium to large size weighing 170 to 500 gram.
Gwen – It turns dull in colour when ripe, it has a creamy texture size of gwen avocado is medium to large with pale green flesh.
Bacon – Mexican hybrid green skin medium size, weighting 170 to 500 gram it has a habit of early maturing with yellow green flesh, recovery 61 % higher yield than fuerte.
Zutano – large in size with shiny yellow green skin, pale green flesh with light taste. Early winter is suitable with 60 % recovery it can tolerate saline conditions.
Reed – Anaheim X Nabel hybrid, it is round in shape and medium to large size fruit with 270 to 680 gram weight. It contains thick green skin along with buttery flesh which tastes good available in summers.
Pinkerton – Hybrid of Guatemalan, it is a medium size fruit weighing 230 to 425 gram, it has cream colour flesh with 82 % recovery.
Xanh – It is a big size fruit that contains 170-180 mm length along with 400 to 600 gram weight which has yellow colour.
Pollock – Large in shape upto 2.27kg with green flesh it also contains 3 to 5 % oil.
TKD 1 – High density plants, fruits are medium in size containing round shape.
CHES A-1 – These are medium size green colour containing 200-250 gram weight found in Mayt, June to Sep with recovery 60 %.
Propagation methods
Propagation is usually done by seeds. Take mature seeds from avocado fruits and sow it in your garden or nursery. After six months these avocado plants can be transplanted to the main field.
Land preparation
You should make the field level by ploughing process remove unwanted grass and weed also through tiny stones out of the field. Make sure you have selected such a land where water does not stand add good amount of decomposed compost so that your farm soil fertility can be improved.
Avocado is commonly called as “Butter Fruits” or “makhan fruit” in India. It is a tropical fruit and looks similar to pear fruits these fruits are used in salads and sandwich fillings you can find them from July to Sep months in the market.
Spacing
In avocado plantation spacing of 8m x 10m is used by farmers. For fuerte variety more spacing is recommended due to its spreading nature. Farmers are doing in Sikkim hill regions with 10m x 10m spacing.
Intercropping in avocado farming
While starting such farming that usually takes more than 5 years farmer should use intercropping to maintain the economic balance of his house. It is recommended to use intercropping in all long term farming.
The crops used in intercropping may fix nitrogen and clog the weed which can increase the soil fertility level. It is suggested to grow the crops bit far from avocado plants for better results.
Irrigation
No need of irrigation in the rainy season whereas you should start irrigation immediately after transplanting avocado to your farms. Use of mulching technique is good to reject any moisture stress during winter season.
You should choose drip irrigation because it improves the farming quality which results in bigger fruit size which will also increase the oil percent. Moreover it controls water level which is useful in saving water
Pruning
Plants like fuerta usually spreads and demands a bit of pruning so thin the branches by using a sharp pruner. However, there is hardly any pruning is done in avocado plants but plants like fuerta or Pollock may demand for it so you should perform a small pruning practice.
Harvesting
It will take 5 to 6 years to get ready for fruit harvesting you can notice the color change of the fruit. Green and purple are 2 types of colors in avocado fruits. Green colour turns yellow and purple colour turns maroon.
Check the colour of seed coat of the fruit if it turns from yellow white to dark brown it means it is ready for harvesting. Remember, avocado fruit usually soften after harvesting and it takes five to ten days for ripening.
Pests and disease
Anthracnose disease in avocados, leaf spot, stem rot, root rot, wilt disease in avocado and the scab are some of the major diseases in avocado trees
Local names of avocado fruits in India
Butter fruit (english), Makhanphal (hindi), Vennal Pazham (Tamil, Malayalam), Alpukat (Marathi), Mager Nashpati (Urdu), Benne Hannu (Kannada).
Health benefits of avocado fruit
- Health benefits of avocado fruit in pregnancy
- it can reduce the gastric problem during pregnancy
- avocado is good for hearth health
- one can include avocado low cholesterol diet
- avocadoes are good for digestion system
- avocado orchard is good for eye sight
- It may help in lowering depression risk
- What to eat for weight loss – avocado
- It may prevent the risk of chronic disease
- By eating avocado you may decrease your bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels
- Avocado is good source of fiber fruit.