The current high-quality organic avocado production in Sicily and Calabria does not meet market demand. Wholesale prices in the EU have been rather stable and highly profitable in the past few years. Demand is increasing constantly and is more and more focused on high-quality produce. Only a few varieties such as Ettinger, Fuerte, etc. experienced a drop in price, which coincided with the rise in popularity of the superior Hass variety.
Production costs are actually lower than for other fruits. In addition, the increased productivity of the orchards over the years and a better selection make the future even brighter. Avocados can therefore be an interesting alternative to some crops that are doing poorly, provided that orchards are planted where fruit can grow well.
Young orchard in north Calabria, Gioia Tauro.
Plants have specific needs for what concerns climate, soil and water quality. We must distinguish whether we want to grow avocados as a hobby or to make a profit. Avoconsult Associated Study and Aguacate Vivai, both located in Catania, provide advice and plant material to acclimatisation gardens and collectors all over Italy and abroad. They have therefore acquired data on the behaviour of rootstocks and varieties.
Avoconsult Associated Study has also received requests for feasibility assessments in some areas in Puglia (Taranto, Lecce), north Calabria (Gioia Tauro) and south Sardinia.
The parts of Sicily suitable for avocado cultivation are limited, but aren't fully planted yet. Other countries in the Mediterranean, have already planted all the areas where avocado cultivation is possible.
Taranto, orchard planted in September-October 2015. The individual protections are almost excessive, a plant barrier is usually enough to protect fruit against the wind. Hass, the variety with the highest price on the market, is harvested between January and May, so it is important to protect the fruit.
The quality of the fruit depends on the composition of irrigation water, characteristics of the soil, rootstocks and clones. Some rootstocks used in vast areas of the Mediterranean basin to counter unfavourable conditions have led to a rather tasteless fruit with a low oil content. The fact that Sicily and Calabria can grow high-quality produce presents them with an advantage compared to other countries.
Preliminary feasibility studies are therefore essential. The possibility of planting an orchard for profit and the rootstocks to use must be assessed case by case to avoid wasting time and money. It happened more than once that a variation in water composition determined the non feasibility of an orchard. Up until a few years ago, the expansion of this sort of crop in Italy was hindered by a rootstock which was suitable for sub-acidic soil but did not tolerate low temperatures and limestone soil very well.
One-year-old plants in southern Calabria on a limestone soil with a Ph of 8.33.
Using rootstocks that make plants more resistant to low and high temperatures led to the first successful avocado orchards in Puglia, northern Calabria and Sardinia, so much so that others will be planted in 2017.
Another rootstock enabled the planting in partially limestone soil with a high alkaline PH also in Sicily and south Calabria.
This opens new possibilities for avocado cultivation in Italy, which may therefore acquire a larger share of the market and a more important role among Mediterranean avocado producers.
Contacts:
Carlo Nicotra
Avoconsult Associated Study
Catania
Email: [email protected]
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