SOURCE: Abrafrutas
IBGE, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, estimates that avocado production in Brazil has grown by around 38.59% between 2017 and 2021, reaching today 18.1 thousand hectares. According to the Institute, productivity in this last year was 301 thousand tons of avocado, both national and avocado, which is a relative of the avocado and widely used in the cuisine of Hispanic countries.
According to the president of the Brazilian Avocado Association, Ligia Carvalho, between January and May 2023, around 27.6 thousand tons of national avocado and avocado passed through Ceagesp, the largest fruit marketing center in the country, where it is estimated to be sold around 25% of the Brazilian harvest. The states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and the Federal District are those that produce the most fruit , but it has expanded to other areas, such as Ceará, which benefits from the off-season periods of the main Brazilian producers.
One of the technologies that has contributed to this growth is localized irrigation , as stated by agronomist, Carlos Barth, from Rivulis’ technical support area, because, according to him, the quality of fruit from a plant with irrigation is better than that from a plant without irrigation. irrigated ”. Barth advocates taking advantage of the implemented irrigation system to add fertilizers because it reduces costs and improves the plant’s performance.
This technique, called fertigation , provides nutrients to the plants in installments and according to their needs without increasing costs as there are no tractors and implements involved in this operation, “Productivity can increase by up to 30% when using fertirrigation”, says the agronomist.
For avocado cultivation, he recommends the use of micro sprinklers in combination with automated irrigation control systems and a device for injecting fertilizers , and drip irrigation can also be used on soils with a more clayey texture. The expert says that part of the management is to meet the amount of water for the avocado tree, fertilizer injection rate compatible with the nutritional management of the crop.
Barth adds that in general, regardless of whether the crop is demanding in water and nutrients, whenever there is water control, providing only the necessary amount, as well as a perfect balance of nutrients applied together with the irrigation water, not only the plant will give the best product, but the environment will also be grateful, as fertilizers will not be washed away, the water will not erode the soil and with fertilizers conveyed together with irrigation water, there will be no machine traffic compacting the earth and consuming diesel, he concludes .
Ricardo Muraoka, dedicates around 140 hectares of Fazenda Glória, located in São Gotardo/MG, to avocado farming . Production, according to him, is around 23 to 25 tons per year and the harvest begins in July and lasts until the following year, “it has fruit that stays on the tree for up to a year”, he explains. Felipe Santos is the agronomist responsible for the activity and, as he says, one of the advantages of irrigation is being able to keep the fruit on the tree for as long as possible . He also says that in normal times I irrigate for less time and during flowering time it increases to support growth. “It’s a tool that helps us a lot in avocado production,” he says.