Mexico‘s avocado exports registered a year-on-year growth of 8.5% from January to November 2022, to 3.188 billion dollars, according to a report released by Grupo Consultor de Mercados Agrícolas (GCMA).
Among the factors that place Mexico as the main supplier of fresh avocados worldwide, is the quality of its fruit, which is achieved by the high standards of planting, harvesting, picking and packing, which are kept under surveillance both by authorities and by the industrialists themselves.
Considering full years, Mexican avocado exports in 2019 were 2,932 million dollars; then they fell 7.9%, to 2,700 million dollars in 2020, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and finally climbed 21.1% in 2021, to 3,270 million.
Avocado is a relatively new crop, which came to prominence in the early 20th century.
The most internationally traded avocado breeds are the Guatemalan and Mexican Hass, Fuerte and Nabal varieties.
The Hass variety, a mixture of different avocado varieties developed by Rudolph Hass, is considered to be the most popular variety internationally, due to its sustained productivity, its low alternation, its qualities to tolerate transportation and conservation, as well as the excellent quality of its pulp.
In addition, the compact growth of the tree allows for increased stocking densities and facilitates cultivation.
Avocado exports
Mexico is currently the world’s leading producer of avocado fruit.
According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Mexico produced 2 million 184,663 tons of avocado in 2018 and 2 million 300,889 tons in 2019, which is equivalent to more than 30% of world production for both years.
Avocado can be grown year-round, and adapts to a wide range of soils, from sandy to clay soils, as long as they have good internal drainage, a factor that is of vital importance, since avocado does not tolerate overly wet soils or flooding, even if it is of short duration.
For its cultivation, light-textured, deep, well-drained soils with a neutral or slightly acid pH are recommended, although it can grow in well-drained clay or clay loam soils.
