If Avocado farmers can adhere to some straightforward rules, they can keep their fruits fresh for weeks before they reach the customer. This includes the following;
Having healthy avocado trees
Knowing when to harvest mature avocado fruits
Avoiding injuries on harvested avocado fruits
Minimizing field heat during harvesting.
Having healthy avocado trees
Knowing when to harvest mature avocado fruits
Avoiding injuries on harvested avocado fruits
Minimizing field heat during harvesting.
Daniel bought a dozen avocados from the market a fortnight ago. They looked so fresh and yummy. He had no doubt that he would enjoy eating the fruits once he got home. Some of the fruits he bought were unripe. Daniel wanted to eat the unripe avocados as ripened slowly over the next 4 days.
Some of them were ripe, and he hoped to eat them that evening. When he cut the ripe ones, he discovered that all of them were bad.
“I felt like a loser!”, Said Daniel. “even the unripe, were immature fruits. Instead of ripening, the unripe avocados deteriorated until they turned sour."
This is the story of many avocado buyers.
After they buy avocados from the market, they suffer anguish because they cannot eat the fruits when they get home.
When they discover the fruit they bought was not worth the prize because a fungal infection or a physical injury that they never identified during purchase resulted in the fruits going bad! Unfortunately, once goods like fruits are bought, they cannot be returned.
After they buy avocados from the market, they suffer anguish because they cannot eat the fruits when they get home.
When they discover the fruit they bought was not worth the prize because a fungal infection or a physical injury that they never identified during purchase resulted in the fruits going bad! Unfortunately, once goods like fruits are bought, they cannot be returned.
Small-scale farmers face the challenge of keeping their avocados fruits fresh; immediately after harvest and during transit to the customer.
It ascertains that once a enables the fruits if they are in good condition, he can keep them for about 4-5 days without going bad, but this rarely happens; often the fruits have started going bad when he receives them.
Photo of an avocado tree
Most small-scale farmers have little or no knowledge on;
when and how to spray trees with fungicides and pesticides, when and how to harvest and postharvest treatment of fruits once harvested.
The availability and understanding of this information are critical for the supply of high-quality fruits to the customer.
A farmer should seek to know the appropriate cultural practices that he can maintain so that he can produce high-quality products.
1. KEEPING AVOCADO TREES HEALTHY
Healthy trees produce high-quality fruits that are free from pests and diseases. To achieve this objective is not difficult.
All a farmer needs is his ensure his trees are regularly sprayed
The soil is supplied with the recommended nutrients,
The farm is free from drainage problems, the farm should be free of weeds, and the plants are irrigated during the dry season.
All a farmer needs is his ensure his trees are regularly sprayed
The soil is supplied with the recommended nutrients,
The farm is free from drainage problems, the farm should be free of weeds, and the plants are irrigated during the dry season.
2. KNOW WHEN AVOCADO FRUITS ARE READY FOR HARVEST
Whenever fruits are harvested when they are immature or when they are over-mature, they present some challenges to the farmer.
For instance, if the fruits are harvested immature, they will take too long to ripen or wouldn’t ripen at all.
On the other hand, When they are over-mature, they will soil before they reach the customer.
To avoid the aforementioned stresses, various indices have been developed by research that enables a farmer to determine the correct time to harvest the fruits and to ascertain whether they are mature.
They include the following;
- Changes in skin color.
Green colored fruits are ready for harvest when they have acquired a yellowish tint. In some varieties, the fruit color changes from green to purple or brown indicating readiness for harvest.
However, it should be noted that some diseases induce pre-mature ripening of fruits thus giving the impression that the fruit is ready for harvest.
- The firmness of the stalk attachment
Fruits attached firmly to the stalk are too immature for harvest while those that are too loose are too mature for sale.
- The floating test/specific gravity test
Immature fruits sink when placed in water because their specific gravity is higher at 1.02-0.95g/cm3 compared to ripe fruits that range from 0.9-0.85g/cm3.
- The appearance of the skin membrane
When an immature fruit is sliced open, the seed of the fruit is enclosed by a yellowish white to light brown seed coat, on the other hand, mature fruits have a thin, brown to a dark brown seed coat.
3. REDUCING INJURIES TO AVOCADO FRUITS
Injuries occur on fruits when they are mistreated for instance dropping them down from a tree during harvesting, allowing them to knock each or other or against a container as they are being transported.
These injuries or bruises become entry sources for microorganisms responsible for rotting or these wounds turn black thus reducing the visual appeal of the fruits.
Bruising or injuries increase the rate of respiration in the fruits, which in turn increases the rate of ripening and senescence.
To reduce injuries caused by dropping fruits during harvest, Ensure the height and shape of the tree is conducive to work on since tall, shapeless trees make harvesting dangerous and difficult.
The height of a tree can be reduced by cutting off the vertical branches to reduce vertical growth and encourage horizontal growth.
During harvesting, the stalk is cut 3 cm from fruit leaving a small portion attached on the fruit, but not to be pulled. Pulling results in the removal of the stalk, therefore creating an opening for diseases and pests.
4. MINIMIZE EFFECT OF FIELD HEAT ON AVOCADO
Harvesting should be done during the cool hours of the day as exposing fruits hot sunny conditions for extended periods results in uncontrolled ripening thus the fruit reaches the customer too ripe.
After harvesting the fruits should be kept in a cool place to reduce field heat. If they are meant for export, they should be stored in a cold room where the temperatures are maintained at 6-8 degrees.
Do not store avocadoes at temperatures below 4 degrees for extended periods as Low temperatures will prevent additional ripening when fruits are kept room temperatures or result in chilling injuries.
The objective of all these treatments is to ensure that the conditions the fruits are exposed to; before, at harvest, and during transit encourage slow ripening, healthy and visually attractive fruits.
When the above issues are considered and put into practice, I am assuring any farmer that his crop will be the best.
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