The Government of Antioquia presented a new programme for the technological, productive and commercial development of Hass avocados under maximum sustainability criteria. It will be carried out through agreements with Antioquia's Avocado Corporation (Corpoaguacate) and the National University of Colombia and will count with the collaboration of producer associations, marketers, research institutions and universities.
The project, named "Consume Máss Hass" (Consume more Hass), will last for three years and will benefit 2,000 avocado producers directly and another 8,000 indirectly in the entire production chain.
"In Colombia, knowledge about Hass avocados is very limited. Some people believe that the appearance of a ripe Hass is that of a damaged or rotten avocado. We only have 9,000 hectares of it cultivated, compared to the 22,000 planted with other varieties," points out Juan Camilo Ruiz, executive director of Corpoaguacate.
"It is thus a promotional campaign aimed at supplying consumers with information about Hass avocados," he added.
According to Ruiz, the campaign started two months ago, despite it being publicly announced last week. The main goals of the initiative are "to expand the variety's cultivation, promote its consumption and to motivate producers to obtain the Global GAP certification to be able to export to Europe and other markets that demand it," explained Ruiz.
The project pursues the cultivation of over 60,000 avocado seedlings on 220 hectares, where they expect to reach up to 100 Global GAP certified producers.
Source: portalfruticola.com