Introduction – Dear farmer friends, today we will introduce you with avocado plant farming and propagation methods along with cultivation practices such as plant care, yield per acre etc. We will also present avocado farming business plan along with avocado farming profit. 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
How to start avocado farming - FAQ
You need to follow the basic steps given below to start avocado farming for profit
Where avocado can grow in India
Punjab, Haryana, North UP, North East States, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, South Himachal Pradesh and some region of West Bengal
Avocado climate requirements
Avocado tree easily grows in tropical climate and temperature required for avocado is between 20 ° to 30 degree celsius
Avocado tree climate - While talking about avocado tree climate zones you need to know that avocado’s can tolerate cold weather easily but temperature below 5° C is not good for avocado orchard. Temperature below 5° can damage the flowers of avocado whereas temperature above 40° can shrink both flower and fruit.
In India avocado’s are mostly grown in Tamil Nadu and Kerala region
Humidity required for avocado plant is 50 to 60 percent
Rain required for avocado farming
For avocado farming in India 100 cm rain fall per year is necessary where as some of the places does not fall in avocado climate zone and it is difficult to grow avocado in such places like Rajasthan, north Gujarat, some Maharashtra and Karnataka region.
Soil requirements for avocado trees
Soil type for growing avocado - Red soil is not good for avocado cultivation, avocado orchid likes clay soil therefore laterite soil is best choice for the orchard. Moreover avocado soil ph level should be between 5 to 7 ph. You should measure avocado soil moisture level before starting avocado cultivation check avocado soil type for better results in the future.
Before growing avocado for profit one need to check these parameters
- Temperature needed for avocado - 20° to 30°
- Avocado humidity should be between – 50 to 60 %
- Avocado rainfall – 100 cm per year
- Avocado soil requirements – laterite soil is very useful for growing avocado plants
Age of avocado tree to produce fruit
How long avocado tree beer fruit - Avocado tree produces 2 kg fruits in first two year it will produce 8kg fruits after 3rd year and after 10 years it is capable of producing 1.5 quintal fruits
How long avocado tree last
Age of avocado tree – avocado tee can live around 50 years
What is the price of avocado
avocado price per kg is between Rs 150 to Rs 400 price of avocado may vary place to place season to season. Avocado price in dehradun is Rs 180 per kg for few months while talking about avocado price in delhi per kg is between Rs 130 to Rs 400 and more whereas avocado price in US has increased a lot in last couple of years.
Different varieties of avocado trees for commercial cultivation
Hass
Hass avocado plant – It is the most popular type of avocado as it does not require much care. It is available throughout the year while talking about shape and size it is small to medium size fruit looks like egg. It turns purple blackish colour when ripened it is creamy and it 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 – It is 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 %
Avocado propagation methods
Avocado propagation in India is usually done by seeds moreover avocado viability of seeds can be increased storing the seeds in sand or storing the seeds in dry pit. 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 in avocado fruit farming
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 avocado is a tropical fruit and looks similar to pear fruits these fruits are used in salads and sandwich fillings you can find avocado fruits from July to Sep months in the market.
Spacing in avocado fruit farming
In avocado plantation spacing of 8m x 10m is used by farmers. For fuerte variety more spacing is recommended due to its spreading nature. In Sikkim farmers use to do avocado farming with 10m x 10m spacing in hill region.
Intercropping in avocado fruit 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 however the choice is yours.
Intercropping benefits – 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 in avocado fruit farming
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 in an avocado fruit farming
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.
Avocado fruit harvesting
It will take 5 to 6 years to get ready for fruit harvesting you should notice the color change of the fruit. There are two types of colors in avocado fruits green and purple, 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 moreover it takes five to ten days for ripening.
Pests and disease of avocado trees
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.
