The Colombian department of Quindio could soon be the leading producer of avocado in the country thanks to the investments in Hass avocado made there in recent years.
In the last three years, five foreign companies from Chile and Peru have planted more than 2,600 hectares of Hass avocado in Quindio. Those companies are the Peruvian Camposol, with 320 hectares of Hass avocado in Salento; the Chilean company Agricola Altos del Valle, with 550 hectares in Salento, Calarca, and Armenia; Green Super Food, another Chilean company, with 1,300 hectares in Calarca, Armenia, and Genoa; Naf Colombia, from Chile, with 67 hectares in Calarca, and the Peruvian company Agricola Cerro Prieto, with 446 hectares of Hass avocado production in Genoa.
According to experts in the sector, most of the occupied properties were pastures, which will become extensions of land with medium-sized trees. They also stated that Hass avocado crops, contrary to what environmentalists say, consume less water than coffee cultivation.
New investments in Hass avocado crops in the region were announced in Quindio's last Competitiveness Committee, which was carried out in the presence of the new governor of Quindio, Roberto Jairo Jaramillo.
Source: elquindiano.com
