According to estimates, Chile will produce about 245 thousand tons of avocados this season and their quality will be good. The country will achieve this production thanks to the good weather there has been in this campaign.
"Last season we had heat waves that affected the last flowers. This started in November, then we had a hard summer which affected the calibers. Having smaller sized fruit decreases the tonnage per hectare and prices," stated Gonzalo Vargas, a consultant.
The good thing, Vargas said, is that the spring of 2017 was late and cold and there were no heat waves in summer. "The crops have set well. Sizes are very good and the curds were very positive because the flower was delayed. In addition, there are many orchards that use technical manoeuvers to delay it, because spring is very uncertain. As a result, Chile's current tonnage per hectare is greater than in the previous year," he said.
According to estimates by the President of the Hass Avocado Committee, Francisco Contardo, this season's production is expected to increase by nearly 20 thousand tons. "The initial estimate for the 2017-2018 campaign was 225 thousand metric tons, but we expect to produce 245 thousand," said Contardo, adding that this would only happen if the weather conditions continue to be good. However, it's still unclear how the weather will be.
Francisco Gardiazabal, a consultant of the sector, said he expects it will be a good year, with a high avocado production and good prices.
"There are sectors in Chile, especially in the Valparaíso Region, where the fruit set has been regular and bad, but there are other areas where it has been very high. Thus, I think they will balance each other and the production will be very similar," Gardiazabal added. He also said that one should take into account that the V Region is the one that provides the greatest amount of fruit.
Good Quality
The good news is that, according to experts, the production will have a good quality.
"The important thing is that the industry manages the harvest times and focuses on a good post-harvest to deliver a quality product that meets the requirements and demands of each market, regarding its caliber, percentage of dry matter, oil, etc.," Contardo stated.
Meanwhile, Gonzalo Vargas said that Peru's super harvest would help Chile.
"Peru, which always ends its harvest at the end of July, will be ending it in August, which will delay our departure. As a result, our fruit will have more dry matter, more oil, and a better post-harvest," he said. If producers harvest too early the fruit's dry matter will be more unstable, which impacts quality.
Regarding other issues, such as size, stains, and fatty acids, among others, Francisco Gardiazabal said there should be no problems. "The fruit's size will be normal. We don't expect to have excessively large or small fruits, maybe a tad bigger than normal; but there should be no problems there," he said.
Regarding the spots on the fruit, he said that their presence depended on the temperature between November and February, and that they still didn't know for certain if the avocados will be stained.
He also said it was still to early to know how prices would behave. "We still don't have any indicator to know if they are going to increase or decrease," Contardo said, as there have been no negotiations and no news regarding Mexican and Peruvian avocado exports. "We hope prices remain the same or increase, which is what any commercial area expects," he says.
Source: Revista del Campo