In December 2019, Honduras made its first export of Hass avocados to Costa Rica. More than 45,000 pounds of Hass avocado from the farms of producers in the communities of El Dorado and San Luis Planes, in the department of Santa Barbara, were sent to the Costa Rican market, within the context of a national plan executed by the Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG).
The coordinator of the National Avocado Plan, Antonio Romero, stated that shipments of the Antillano variety to Costa Rica up until October 2019 had generated 2.6 million dollars in foreign currency. In 2020, the country expects to continue exporting that and other varieties to Costa Rica and other markets. The country will begin a nursery certification process to guarantee the quality of its Hass avocado, increase its competitiveness in the international market, meet national demand, and reduce imports.
The country expects to sow 1,000 hectares per year and plans to have 4,000 hectares nationwide by 2022. The market's demand is covered with a production of 1,500 hectares.
This production has significantly reduced imports especially from Mexico, which would cost the country around 11 million dollars.
In Honduras, there are several established plantations of the Hass variety in the departments of El Paraíso, Santa Barbara, La Paz, Intibuca, Comayagua, Copan, Ocotepeque, Yoro, and Francisco Morazan.
Source: latribuna.hn
