In the Dominican Republic, consumers can eat avocados throughout the whole year, but with different supplies and prices. The supply that occurs from June to November is not the same as that from March to June, when there are extreme harvest cycles.
Between June and November the average price per unit fluctuates between RD $ 20 and RD $ 30 and between March and June it increases to RD $ 70 and RD $ 80 per unit because the supply varies. 70% of the national avocado production is harvested between June and November and from March to June the supply drops to 4%.
Wide range of varieties
The Dominican Republic, which produces around 20 varieties of avocado, is the second largest producer of this product in the world and the eighth largest exporter. In this last modality, however, it has weaknesses that limit its potential. The national production exceeds 300 thousand metric tons and exports reach about US $ 23.0 million per year, which accounts for less than 4% of world exports.
According to the president of the Avocado Cluster, Jose Rosa, the country has left behind the times when this crop was grown in patios to make shade and was only harvested between June and November. Now, the country has an estimated cultivated area of nearly 31.44 thousand hectares, a growing productivity, and is harvested throughout the whole year. The biggest harvest, however, continues to take place between June and November, when 70% of the fruit is harvested. 22% of the production is harvested between December and February, and only 4% from March to June, according to a technical guide on avocado cultivation, prepared by the National Council of Competitiveness (CNC), the Avocado Cluster, and the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD).
The biggest producing regions in the country are Altamira, Moca, San Cristobal, Bani, Ocoa, Mao, La Romana, Montecristi, Duverge, and Elias Piña.
The key, more varieties
The country has been able to have a permanent offer of this fruit because it has introduced new varieties. The research determined that the country grows 19 varieties of avocado, headed by the Semil-34, creole variety, which accounts for nearly 70% of the production. Its full production period takes place from October to February.
It is followed by the Hass variety, with 13.18%, and the Cultivares Criollos and Choquette varieties, with 8.61 and 5.70%, respectively. Other minority varieties include the Beneke variety, which is very versatile because it can be sown at any height. This variety is mainly cultivated in Cambita, San Cristobal, and La Karla, where it is cultivated by the family of General Carlos Castillo in the area of San Jose de Ocoa. This variety is used almost exclusively for export. It is harvested between February and April.
The most productive variety is the purple avocado, because its production is distributed, that is to say that as one harvest is ready, the plant is producing other fruits that are 50% ready, and yet another fruit at 25% of its process. It is a continuous production, said Jose Rosa.
The cultivation and the number of producers of avocado have been in constant increase in the last years, except in 2004 and 2005 when there was a fall with respect to 2003, a year when production reached a record of 274,178.2 metric tons. Production already exceeds 300 thousand metric tons.
Industrialization, a necessary option
The president of the Avocado Cluster, Jose Rosa, suggested industrializing the fruit because a large proportion of the production was being lost. He said that despite the country's increase in supply there was only one industry that processed avocado, turning it into guacamole. It exports the product exports. He said that the avocado also had cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses, and that they could produce an oil as important as olive oil from it. However, industrializing it requires investments that small producers cannot make.
Source: elcaribe.com.do