REPORT ON AVOCADO ORCHARD VISITS IN PERU, SEPTEMBER 2015
Simon Newett, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland
Contents
Avocado industry in Peru ...... 4 Chiclayo region ...... 5 CASABLANCA FARM, NEAR CHICLAYO - WED SEP 9TH ...... 6 Soil ...... 6 Tree production and establishment...... 6 Varieties, rootstocks and spacing ...... 8 Irrigation ...... 9 Nutrition ...... 9 Pests and diseases...... 10 Canopy management ...... 11 Flowering and fruitset ...... 12 Harvest and yields ...... 12 Labour ...... 13 AGRICOLA CERRO PRIETO ACP FARM, NEAR CHICLAYO - THU SEP 10TH ...... 14 Climate ...... 14 Soil ...... 14 Varieties, rootstocks and spacing ...... 14 Irrigation ...... 15 Nutrition ...... 18 Pests and diseases...... 18 Canopy management ...... 18 Flowering and fruitset ...... 18 Harvest, yields and fruit size ...... 19 Packing ...... 20 Export ...... 22 Production costs ...... 23 Labour ...... 23 Trujillo region ...... 23
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ARATO MONTEGRANDE , NEAR TRUJILLO - FRI SEP 11TH ...... 24 Climate and soil ...... 26 Tree production and establishment...... 26 Varieties, rootstocks and spacing ...... 27 Irrigation ...... 27 Nutrition ...... 27 Pests and diseases...... 29 Canopy management ...... 29 Flowering and fruitset ...... 30 Harvesting and wages ...... 30 Computer control ...... 30 AVO PERÚ S.A.C. EN SUEÑO ORCHARD, NEAR TRUJILLO - SAT SEP 12TH ...... 32 Development costs, tree production and establishment ...... 32 Varieties, rootstocks and spacing ...... 34 Irrigation ...... 34 Nutrition ...... 35 Pests and diseases...... 37 Canopy management ...... 37 Flowering and fruitset ...... 38 Yields ...... 39 Tree productivity rating system ...... 40 CONGRESS FIELD TRIP, LA CALERA - WED 16TH ...... 41 La Cale a Ag i ultu al Busi ess ...... 41 La Calera farm ...... 42 Climate ...... 43 Soil ...... 43 Varieties, rootstocks and spacing ...... 43 Irrigation ...... 43 Nutrition ...... 44 Pests ...... 44 Canopy management ...... 44 Flowering and fruitset ...... 44 Harvest and yields ...... 45 Labour ...... 45
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CONGRESS FIELD TRIP, AGRICOLA HOJA REDONDO SA - WED 16TH ...... 46 Varieties, rootstocks and spacing ...... 46 Flowering and fruitset ...... 47 Irrigation ...... 47 Nutrition ...... 47 Pests and diseases...... 48 Canopy management ...... 49 Flowering and fruitset ...... 50 Yields ...... 50 Labour ...... 50 SUMMARY ...... 51 Useful websites ...... 53 Acknowledgements ...... 53
This report was compiled from notes and observations taken during orchard visits and handouts supplied by orchard management. The four orchards visited in the Chiclayo and Trujillo regions were part of the pre-congress tour organised by the organisers of the World Avocado Congress VIII held in Lima, Peru in September 2015. The two orchards in the Chincha Valley were visited on the day of the field visits during the congress week.
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Avocado industry in Peru Avocados have been grown for thousands of years in Peru by civilizations including the Moche, Chimú and Incas. However the crop has experienced phenomenal growth in the last decade or so and domestic and foreign investors have established very large new plantings which are directed at export. The standard of practices both in the field and packing shed are very high in order to meet the quality standards imposed by codes such as GlobalGAP Good Agricultural P a ti e . A g oup alled P oHass (Association of Hass Producers in Peru) is the Peruvian export and marketing group which coordinates export of Hass.
Production in Peru was 215,000 tonnes in 2011 with a forecast of 285,000 tonnes in 2015 making it the second largest producer of commercial avocados in the world (after Mexico which produces about 1.5 million tonnes). Chile is ranked third with about 200,000 tonnes forecast for 2015. Judging by the large number of large young and new orchards being established in Peru production is expected to continue to grow rapidly.
Peru consists of three main geographical regions, the coast, the mountains and the jungle of the Amazon basin. The Peruvian avocado industry is found in the narrow coastal strip sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountain range. Although the Peruvian coast lies entirely within the tropics the temperatures are significantly cooler than would be expected due to the cold Humboldt Current. This current travels north from the Antarctic along the west coast of South America. Not only does this current modify the temperatures of the coastal region but it makes it very dry, rain is rare and annual rainfall is less than 25mm. The rain shadow from the Andes contributes to the dry conditions. Conditions are often foggy, Lima is said to have foggy days for 7 months of the year. Rivers that flow west from the snow melt and higher rainfall in the Andes Mountains to the Pacific Ocean provide water for irrigation. There are about 41 river valleys along the Peruvian coast that originate in the Andes Mountains. The government has built several large dams in the Andes to better secure a regular water supply and is currently building another dam which will hold ½ million ML. It has also driven tunnels through the Andes from the east (Amazon basin) side where rain is plentiful. Government and private investors construct concrete channels (up to 80 km long) to bring this water to the farms.
Typical desert topography of4 the Peruvian coastal strip
Chiclayo region The town of Chiclayo is 770 km north of Lima on the Pan American Highway, a 1.25 hr flight from Lima or a 13 hour drive by bus. It is capital of the Lambayeque region, is 13 km inland and has a population of ¾ million people.
Climate: The latitude of Chiclayo is 7° south (about the same as Lae in Papua New Guinea) but rather than experiencing tropical temperatures the temperatures are pleasant and mild ranging from an average monthly minimum of 15.2 °C in September to an average monthly maximum of 30.5 °C in February. Annual rainfall ranges from about 30 to 50 mm. Their water supply comes from the Andes Mountains where the rainy season occurs between December and February.
Table 1. Meteorological data for Chiclayo, Latitude 6.76° S, Longitude 79.84° W, Elevation 27m
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Ave/Tot Mean High 29.1 30.5 30.3 28.8 26.6 24.9 23.6 23.4 23.6 24.2 25.3 27.1 26.45 Temp Celsius Mean Low 19.3 20.5 20.5 19.1 17.8 16.7 15.7 15.3 15.2 15.6 16.3 17.6 17.47 Temp Celsius Mean Precipitation 5.9 2.4 8.8 4.0 1.3 .4 .0 .3 .6 .8 1.9 .5 26.9 mm
Environment: Barren desert with sand dunes and steep rocky mountains which form the foothills of the Andes. The deserts are intersected by rivers valleys (e.g. Reque, Sanya, Hecetepeque) emanating from the Andes. The river valleys have rich alluvial soils that support a range of irrigated commercial crops including artichoke, asparagus, avocado, blueberries, cassava ( manioc , yuca , tapioca ), citrus, corn, mango, papaya, po eg a ate g a ada , potato, quinoa (white, red and black types), sugarcane, sweet potato o ate , table grapes and rice. More recently areas outside of the river valleys are being developed primarily for avocado, asparagus and blueberry.
Asparagus in the foreground. In the background one of the fertile river valleys found along the Peruvian coast that drains from the Andes and provides water and life to the coastal desert regions. 5
CASABLANCA FARM, NEAR CHICLAYO - WED SEP 9TH This orchard is situated about 1.5 hou s drive south of Chiclayo and about 30 km from the ocean at the foothills of the Andes. In addition to about 100 ha of Hass avocados the farm grows table grapes (Red Globe and Crimson). Both avocados and grapes are destined for export markets. They are also experimenting with cranberry and quinoa. The manager is Pedro Amires. The temperature reaches 30°C in summer.
Entrance to Casablanca farm which is situated between the gate and the foothills of the Andes
Soil The soil is sandy and gravelly close to the mountains but further west it has more clay and this is preferred as it holds more nutrients and moisture. On the sandier soils compost made from cow manure and asparagus waste is applied annually. Soil pH varies from 5 up to 9. They do have some problems with salt which is inherent in the soil. In summer, when they irrigate daily, salt is not a problem but in winter with less frequent irrigation some leaf burn does occur.
Tree production and establishment Grafted trees are nursery grown and take about one year to produce. Seeds are planted in June/July. Trees are grafted quite high, at about 90 cm, because they have found that the higher the graft the faster the tree develops.
Compost is used at the planting sites and corn is planted around young trees to provide shelter and later, mulch.
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Planting procedure at Casa Blanca orchard. Pile of compost for each hole and worker with measuring stick (top). Corn has been planted as shelter and for mulch (bottom) 7
A view of the orchard away from the hills where the soil is heavier, note the strong flowering.
Varieties, rootstocks and spacing Hass is grafted on to Zutano, Topa Topa and Dusa® rootstocks. They have discovered that Dusa® does t like la soils.
Avocados vary in age from 2 to 4 years.
Spacing is mostly 6 x 2.5m (667/ha). New plantings are at 6 x 3m (556/ha).
Some of the original avocado blocks follow the original grape rows so are very close but every second row had been taken out leaving a double row of avocados between each lane way (888/ha).
This part of the orchard, next to the hills, is on sandier soil. The larger dark green trees are the pollinizers.8
Irrigation This orchard applies about 15 ML/ha/year. Water quality is good, about 1 dS/m. Irrigation is applied up to twice per day in summer and 5 times per week in winter. Good management of irrigation is considered essential for success and canopies must be managed for optimum light penetration. Irrigation is provided by three lines of drippers per row of avocado trees. Each line has a dripper every 40 cm emitting 1.6 L/hour, thus 30 L is delivered to each tree per hour of irrigation.
Trees are irrigated with three dripper lines per row with emitters every 40cm, each dripper delivers 1.6 L/hr which means that at 2.5m spacing each tree receives 30 L/hour.
Nutrition Nutrients are fertigated. Yellow leaves at flowering are regarded as being the result of nutrients being re-distributed from the leaves to other parts of the tree.
When trees are young about six leaf tissue tests per year are carried out at different stages of the phenology cycle to ensure that the nutrition program is on track.
For a crop yielding 32 t/ha the following nitrogen and potassium is applied:
200 kg N/ha/yr 160 kg K/ha/yr
MAP, iron sulphate and magnesium sulphate are also applied through the fertigation.
Two foliar applications of B are applied and some is also applied via fertigation.
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Settling pond, fertigation mixing, filtration, pumps and solenoids. The water from the Andes contains significant amounts of clay which is precipitated out in the settling ponds with the help of flocculants.
Pests and diseases Phytophthora cinnamomi does occur in areas that are high in clay and are overwatered; the soil is drenched with phosphorous acid to counteract this problem. Note: Soil drenching with phosphorous acid is NOT recommended in Australia as higher doses are required, the product is soon converted to phosphorus fertiliser on contact with clay in the soil and this practice will lead to development of strains of Phytophthora cinnamomi which are more resistant to phosphorous acid.
Lasiodiplodia theobromae can be a problem causing stem end rot, cankers on trunks and branches and in severe cases death of trees.
We were told that there was no sunblotch viroid on this farm.
Insect pests include Bicho de cesto (literall basket ug hi h is a Lepidopte ous la ae o ag o , Oiketicus kirbyi. It feeds on leaves causing uniform holes 1 cm in diameter and is closely related to Saunders Case Moth (Oiketicus elongates) which occurs in Australia. Other pests include a moth larvae, white fly and red mite. Up to 6 insecticide sprays are applied per year.
Other pests include the Peruvian desert fox or Sechuran fox (Lycalopex sechurae) which sometimes comes down from the mountains and chews the irrigation pipes for water, however by providing them with a more accessible source of water on the edge of the orchard the foxes tend to leave the irrigation pipes alone.
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Canopy management Trees grow about 80 to 100 cm per year, mostly in March and September. Trees are shape pruned during their first year in the field. Thereafter trees are pruned every year, usuall i Jul . The flo a lo a az flo e i g i te fe es ith p u i g. P u i g ai s at esta lishi g a e t al leade a d keeping the trees no taller than 5m. Trees are pruned in the orchard from year 1 onwards.
One application of Sunny® is applied per year at 2 litres/ha in a spray volume of 400 L/ha.
Annual canopy management in July aims to keep laneways open,
tree height no taller than 5m and canopies open to sunlight penetration through selective limb removal (below).
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Flowering and fruitset The main flowering is from the end of August till October. Trees were flowering strongly during our visit in September. The e is so e flo a lo a az flo e i No e e a d agai i Ma ut little fruit is produced from it (only sufficient to fill 2 to 5 containers per year from the whole orchard).
8% of trees are pollinizers, Zutano (4%) and Ettinger (4%). The pollinizers appeared to be flowering later than the Hass and their flowering intensity was low. They are thinking of taking the pollinizers out, this is not surprising considering that the temperature rarely falls below 12 °C.
There is a good population of feral bees here and there are also native bees about, however Varroa mite is present and at some sites they bring in 2 hives/ha. In the Barranca region (closer to Lima) up to 12 hives per ha are introduced.
Harvest and yields There are generally two harvest periods each year, the first in March-June, the second in August.
Typically they get about 2 t/ha in Year 2 and mature trees yield from 25 to 32 t/ha. Alternate bearing can start at year 5, for example yields can fluctuate from 42 t/ha down to 16 t/ha the next year.
Typical row of young Hass trees. Flowering is strong and this year mainly determinate.
Casablanca has its own packing shed and also supplies lunch for its workers at a cafeteria onsite.
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Tour members enjoying a drink and ceviche at the Casablanca cafeteria.
Red globe table grapes are also grown on this farm
Labour There are 20 full time workers and about 300 casuals during harvest. They work a 48 hour week. Pickers average about 700 kg/day. Pay is USD15/day.
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AGRICOLA CERRO PRIETO (ACP) FARM, NEAR CHICLAYO - THU SEP 10TH General manager – Alfredo Lira Chirif
Business manager – Daniel Bustamente Canny
Packing shed manager – Ricardo Acha Pacheco
The property is located about 1 hour drive south of Chiclayo. It consists of 4,500 ha of which 2,500 ha are currently under irrigation. There are 1,000 ha of avocados, of which 500 ha are six years old and the other 500 ha three years old. The other irrigated areas grow asparagus, blueberries, table grapes and cotton. Originally the plan was to grow sugar cane for the production of ethanol fuel but the farm was too small for this. They still have 2,500 ha to develop but are likely to plant grapes, blueberries and/or asparagus rather than avocados. ACP is 90% owned by Peruvian businessmen (who also have investments in electricity and mining) and 10% by USA investors.
Our group was hosted by Daniel Bustamente Canny, who is the business manager of the development.
The massive new packing house was only completed in August, 4 weeks earlier, and has not yet been used.
The land was purchased in 2000. The land cost USD 20,000 per ha with water rights of 10 ML/ha, however they estimate that they need 19 ML/ha for avocados. These water rights come with the land and cannot be sold separately. They have been trying to get more water allocated but without success, however they plan to drill for underground water (discussed below).
Climate 90% of days are sunny, rain is very rare. In o e a o all et year 70mm was received. They are worried by climate change and El Niño events. Wind can be a problem, windbreaks of bana grass and eucalypts are used.
Soil 95% sand, 5% silt.
Varieties, rootstocks and spacing Hass is grown on Zutano (considered vigorous), Topa Topa, Ashdot and Degania rootstocks. Ashdot performs well but the seed has to be imported from Israel and is expensive. Zutano gives a more uniform tree than Topa Topa. Their nursery produces a tree from seed to planting in the field within six months.
Six year old trees are at 6 x 2.5m = 667/ha. This is a common spacing in Peru but it was found to be a bit close for this property.
More recent plantings, i.e. the three year olds are at 7 x 2.5m = 571/ha
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Irrigation The Peruvian government built a dam in the Andes 50 km from the farm with a capacity of 400,000 ML in the 1980s and also built a concrete irrigation channel as far as the Casablanca farm (visited the previous day). ACP added another 27 km themselves in 2004 to bring the water to their farm. Structures have been built around the channel in the mountains to prevent it from being damaged during floods. It is much cheaper to build a channel than a pipeline.
The government is also building a 30 km tunnel 250 km north of here from the Amazon side of the Andes to deliver water to the coastal strip.
Concrete channel bringing water from the Andes and one of the
on-site reservoirs situated above the orchard to allow gravity feed to the orchards.
We e e sho the plasti li ed tu ke est ese oi s hi h a e supplied a o ete ha el from dams in the Andes. The first plastic liners were 1mm thick, now they use 0.75mm liners. This channel delivers 7.5 m3 per second, enough to water about 8,000 ha but not all of the water is for
15 this farm; some of it goes to other properties. Filtration has to be good to remove sand and clay particles so that the water is suitable for drip irrigation. They currently have five reservoirs of 80, 98, 120, 234 and 400 ML capacity and they are all interconnected. The reservoirs are situated on a high point on the property so that the fields are supplied by gravity thus no irrigation pumps are required. As well as providing water storage the reservoirs also allow the sand and clay to settle, this material must be removed manually from time to time. Water quality is good and typically measures 0.2 dS/m. The company is also hoping to obtain permission to drill for underground water and in this way they hope to recover water lost through deep drainage from the inefficient flood irrigation of rice in the region. The quality of this water is expected to be poorer, at about 0.8 dS/m. Rice production in Peru is a politically sensitive issue and we saw many rice mills but Daniel believes it is irrational to grow flood-irrigated rice in the desert.
Table 2. Approximate water volumes irrigated at ACP farm
Tree age Water use Year 1 8 ML/ha/yr Year 3 15 ML/ha/yr Year 6 19 ML/ha/yr
Trees are irrigated by drippers twice per day in summer during daylight hours. Pan evaporation data is used as a guide to determine the daily irrigation requirement. The evaporation is typically 6mm/day in summer and 4.7mm/day in winter. Evaporation reaches a maximum of 6.5mm/day, which is not high.
Cost of water is USD 0.25/m3 and they also pay another USD 0.03/m3 for the use of the government built section of the channel.
Table 3. Water cost comparison
Location Cost Peru (ACP) USD 0.28/m3 Peru (En Sueño) USD 0.03/m3 California USD 0.81/m3
The filtration, irrigation and fertigation system is Israeli designed.
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The irrigation filtration units
The irrigation is delivered via three lines of drippers
Trees are irrigated by three dripper lines per tree row. The dripper lines have emitters every 40 cm which deliver 1 L/hour/dripper. Thus at a spacing of 2.5 m each tree receives about 18.75 L/hour. On a t pi al su e s da the olde t ees e ei e 3/day/ha (60,000 L) which equates to about 90 L/tree/day.
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Nutrition Nitrogen (typically as ammonium nitrate) is applied every day with a slightly lower dose in winter and higher dose during flowering.
Table 4. Nutrients applied at ACP (kg of element/ha/year)
N P K Ca Zn B Fe 380 76 373 75 50 6 some
Foliar sprays of copper and manganese are also applied.
Pests and diseases Bicho de cesto – basket bug Thrips can be an issue and are controlled by a combination of biological methods and pesticides. Oxydia vesulia transponens – avocado looper
Canopy management Pruning commences 15 days after completion of harvest. It involves restricting tree height and pruning the sides of the tree.
Flowering and fruitset Main flowering occurs from August till September. There is some out-of-season flowering in winter and summer.
Table 5. Flowering and harvest times at ACP
% of total flower Flowering Harvest 5% Jun/Jul Feb-Mar 85% Aug/Sep Apr-Jun 10% Dec/Jan Aug
ACP was keen to try and get the higher prices from late fruit (Dec/Jan flowering) and flatten out the harvest labour requirements. They conducted an 80 ha trial to force more of the late (Dec/Jan) flowering by heavy pruning and some water stress but the resulting fruit was much smaller than normal, the latter perhaps as a result of the water stress.
Bee hives are hired and placed at 5 hives per hectare.
Ettinger is planted as a pollinizer in 5% of spaces but was flowering much later than the Hass. Their relatively warm nights through flowering also make the use of pollinizers questionable.
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Ettinger (right) has been planted as a pollinizer for Hass (left) but is flowering too late to be effective.
Harvest, yields and fruit size Harvest commences when fruit reaches 23% dry matter, this occurs in about March, about 4 weeks earlier than most of the rest of the Peruvian industry. The first (main) harvest takes place from April till June. The last (second) pick is completed in August. This ea the pla ed a ou d ith flo e i g for a late harvest and finished harvesting in the first week of September.
Six year old trees averaged 20 t/ha this year.
Table 6. Yield history at ACP
Tree age Yield (t/ha) Year 3 2 Year 4 4.5 Year 5 10 Year 6 20 - 26
Peruvian fruit can be too big but in the north (here) because temperatures are warmer this is not an issue. Most of the fruit packs at a count of 48 in a USA 25 lb (11.36 kg) carton, which is equivalent to a 23 count in Australia.
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Packing ACP has built a large packing shed at a cost of USD12 million which was completed only a month before our visit. Designed and built up by Compac in New Zealand, it will pack avocados, citrus, grapes and mangos. The shed is capable of packing 48 tonnes of avocados per hour (120 x 400 kg bins/hour). They have approximately 26,000 of the 400 kg plastic bins.
ACP s ew packi g shed, co pleted i August a d read to pack fruit for e port
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All fruit is packed within 24 hours of picking. After packing the temperature is dropped to 5.5 °C, damage was occurring to fruit below this temperature. Fruit is stored at between 4.5 and 5.5 °C and ripened at between 18 and 24 °C.
Fruit is packed BEFORE pre-cooling. The pack shed manager, Ricardo Acha Pacheco, has developed a new design for the pre-cooling room in order to drop the temperature of the packed fruit from about 28°C to 4 or 5°C within 4 hours. The pre-cooling room is laid out with 24 pallets arranged in 6 groups of 4 pallets each in two rows with space between each of the 6 groups. For the first 3 hours air circulates vertically from top to bottom then for the final hour the air direction is reversed to ensure no warm spots remain.
Figure 1. Floor design of pre-cool chamber showing position of each of the 24 pallets of fruit.
Pre-cool chamber that incorporates a new design
The packing shed includes a cavernous dual purpose cool storage room which will serve as a buffer for bins of fruit coming in from the field and/or for packed fruit if cool rooms are full.
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Refrigerated buffer storage room
They have a 1,000 kW back-up generator.
Export ACP works with ProHass who manage 70% of the Peruvian crop.
60% of the fruit goes to Europe (14 days to Dover) where returns are USD 1.60/kg. 35% goes to the USA (11 to 17 days due to long delays in ports) where returns are USD 1.20/kg. Some goes to Chile. Fruit is shipped at 5.5°C.
China and Japan are now accepting Peruvian avocados.
Per capita consumption in Peru is 3.5 kg per year, interestingly however domestic consumption is traditionally based on greenskin varieties of which there are a spread of varieties that make avocados available year round.
France has the highest per capita consumption in the western world. Germany and Italy are traditionally greenskin markets but this is changing.
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Production costs According to information provided by Daniel, on a per kg basis:
Cost of production USD0.38 (including depreciation but excluding interest on capital) Cost of packing USD0.40 Ave. freight to Europe or US USD0.43 (based on a 12m reefer with 17.16 tonnes of avocados) TOTAL USD1.21
Daniel said that a 4 kg carton was currently fetching 11 Euros which is equivalent to USD12 or USD3/kg. This means they are getting a margin of around USD1.79/kg for fruit sent to Europe although he did say that their returns were USD1.60/kg from Europe and USD1.20/kg from USA, so perhaps there are some other costs not mentioned.
Labour They have 800 permanent staff with an additional 1500 during harvest. Workers are paid per hour not by piece work. The daily rate is USD13/day. ACP has buses to fetch the workers each day; some do a round trip of 80 km.
Trujillo region We passed through several towns including Chepen, Guadalupe, Pacasmayo and Brujo. There were many independent rice mills, 3 sugar mills in the Chicama Valley, a huge cement factory in Pacasmayo and a wind farm at one point with about 50 very large wind turbines.
The petrol price was about AUD1.40 per litre. (Peru S12 per US gallon of 3.8 litres). The exchange rate during our visit was AUD 0.44 per Peruvian Sol.
Table 7. Meteorological data for Trujillo, Latitude 8.1° S, Longitude 79.0° W, Elevation 33m
Ave/ Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Tot Mean High 25.0 26.0 26.0 24.5 23.2 22.0 21.1 20.4 20.4 20.9 22.1 23.5 22.93 Temp Celsius Mean Low 17.0 17.8 18.0 16.8 15.7 15.0 14.4 14.1 14.0 14.1 14.6 14.7 15.51 Temp Celsius Mean Precipitation 1.2 .8 1.8 .1 .1 .0 .0 .0 .0 .2 .0 .1 4.3 mm
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ARATO MONTEGRANDE , NEAR TRUJILLO - FRI SEP 11TH Situated about 1¼ hours drive south of Trujillo in the Chao Valley this property is one of several farms in the Arato group. They place great importance on the well-being and development of their staff. Thei st ategi pa t e is Missio A o ados in California which imports avocados into the USA from Mexico, Chile, Peru, New Zealand and South Africa. Their oldest avocado trees are just 4 years old (the trees at Arato Montegrande are just three years old) but by 2016 the Arato group will have 3,225 ha of Hass planted. The large Camposol orchards (4,000 ha of avocados) are nearby.
Table 8. The Arato Group of companies
Company name Founded Crops Location Arato Montegrande 2011 Hass avocados 605 ha Montegrande - Chao, Viru Beggie 2012 Hass avocados 1,120 ha Viru Inagro Olmos Stage 1 2013 Hass avocados 900 ha Olmos, Lambayeque Blueberries Peru 2014 Blueberries 415 ha Montegrande - Chao, Viru Avocado Packing Co 2015 Packs 32 t/hr Chao, Viru Peruvian Agritrade 2015 - Lima Inagro Olmos Stage 2 2015 Hass avocados 200 ha Olmos, Lambayeque (2015) + 400 ha (2016) Total avocados 3,225 ha of Hass avocado
Arato Montegrande is 4 km from the ocean and is situated at 400m ASL. Most of their avocado trees are only 2 to 3 years old. The farm receives just 10 mm rain per year which generally falls as a light drizzle in the mornings. In an El Niño year they can have up to 150 mm/year and this may fall in one day creating havoc.
Staff who hosted our visit were Alejandro Gonzales and Sofia Guerrero Moreno. Sofia graduated f o a p i ate u i e sit i T ujillo as a food e gi ee . She ould like to stud fu ther and do a PhD in post-harvest. Labour comes from as far away as the town of Cajamarca, NE of Trujillo. They currently employ 140 staff. They have a packing operation on the property that services several farms.
They also grow green asparagus, white asparagus (in shade-cloth enclosures), blueberries and capsicum in a big way. They have a 1.4 ha test plot of 14 blueberry cultivars on the property and work with Driscolls.
Water reaches the farm via a 34 km concrete channel from a distant valley; it is 4m deep and delivers 80,000 L/sec (1 ML every 12.5 seconds). A new dam is being built in the Andes which will have a capacity of 500,000 ML.
Average fruit size is 240 g (equivalent to an Australian count 23) and so far 99% reaches export grade. Fruit counts for the US carton are 40s, 48s and 60s (equivalent to Australian 19, 23 and 29 counts). Fruit counts for the European carton are in the 16 to 22 count range (equivalent to Australian 22 to 30 counts).
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The closer the orchard is to the ocean in Peru the earlier is the maturity. Fruit at higher altitudes is slightly smaller. Currently Arato Montegrande harvests between mid-May till mid-September.
Some of the 605 ha of avocados at Arato Montegrande orchard with the Chao valley in the background 25
Climate and soil The average maximum temperature in summer is 32°C, it can sometimes reach 35°C. The average minimum in winter is 15°C; sometimes it can drop to 12°C. The soil is coarse sand with no organic matter initially
Tree production and establishment All trees are produced on site. Seeds are grown in the nursery for 60 to 70 days then planted out as seedlings in the orchard and grafted in the field with a 95% take rate. Corn is planted down the rows prior to planting as a shelter around young trees and to supply material for mulch.
Wind direction
Figure 2. Shelter planting of corn in the tree row Rows of corn planted as shelter
Young trees grafted in the field, sheltered & mulched with corn
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Arato Montegrande is planning to grow sweet potato down the interow for 6 months in summer to reduce the temperature in the orchard and also for the production of clean tubers for sale.
Young avocados growing in the coarse sand at Arato Montegrande farm
Varieties, rootstocks and spacing Seedling Zutano and Lula rootstocks are used. Tree spacing is 6 x 3.6m giving a density of 463/ha.
They have discovered that Lula uses 10% less water than Zutano; the roots are thicker and spear through soil more easily but their uptake of nitrogen is slower. Older plants on Lula rootstock are yielding 17 t/ha. Arato is studying the effect of different rootstocks on shelf-life of fruit.
Irrigation Each row of trees has three lines of drip irrigation. Irrigation is done during the day. About 1.5 hours per day in spring and about 3 hours per day in summer.
Water is pumped into holding ponds (plastic lined turkey-nest dams) and treated with an anionic polymer flocculent to precipitate out the clay. Water is pumped from off the top of these ponds and nutrients injected before being irrigated.
Nutrition Nitrogen is applied to 2 year old trees at 180 kg N/ha/year, this is increased to 220 kg N by year 4.
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Table 9. Nutrients to be applied to trees older than 4 years at Arato Montegrande (kg element/ha/yr)
N P K Zn B Ca Mg Mn 260 100 300 20 5 30 5 3
Settling ponds allow clay to be separated from the irrigation water
Feeder root system under dripper line
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Nutrients are applied as fertigation in every irrigation which can be three times per day in summer. Timing of individual elements is dictated by the phenology.
Phosphorus is applied as phosphoric acid prior to flowering for root growth. No copper sprays are applied to the fruit but one spray is applied after pruning.
Soil pH is naturally about 7 but after nutrients are added it drops to 6.5. In these early days of the orchard leaves are analysed roughly every month, a total of 9 times per year. In January calcium levels are tested in the fruit.
Sofia said that The sa d does t gi e a thi g, ut it does t take a thi g eithe , meaning that although the sand is virtually devoid of nutrients, it does t ha e a o ple tie-ups of elements.
Sofia Guerrero Moreno, our guide for the visit showing us the fertigation mixing tanks.
Pests and diseases Mites (Oligonychus spp.) Scale insects (e.g. Fiorinia spp.) Avocado mirid – (Daghbertus sp.) – attacks flowers and recently set fruit. Hemiberlesia sp. scale
They try to use biological sprays where possible such as garlic, capsicum, vegetable oils, and detergents. Up to three sprays are applied per year, mostly oils. Fungi of the Hirsutella genus which are pathogenic to some insects, mites and nematodes are used as biological control agents. If synthetic insecticides are necessary they try not to use them within 120 days of harvest.
Lasiodiplodia is present, it affects branches and can also cause fruit drop.
Canopy management Trees are still very young but they prune them manually after completion of harvest but before flowering begins, this is followed by a light pruning later in the season.
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Flowering and fruitset 6% of trees are pollinizers, Zutano 3% and Ettinger 3%.
Zutano and Hass flower together but Ettinger is late.
Beehives are introduced at 30% flower at a rate of 3 hives per ha.
Harvesting and wages Labour either work six 8 hour days or five 9.5 hour days. The basic wage for orchard workers is USD300 per month, thus the daily rate is between USD12.50 and USD15 per day. The lunch break is 1¼ hours. Worker facilities on-site include a cafeteria and a soccer field.
Pickers typically harvest 2½ bins per day (about 1 ¼ tonnes). They are paid a basic wage plus a bonus if they exceed a certain tonnage. Fruit are snip picked to meet phytosanitary requirements for export.
The harvest season starts when fruit reaches 23 to 24% dry matter and this fruit is stored at 5 to 6°C. Towards the end of the harvesting season fruit reaches 27 to 29% dry matter and fruit is stored at 4.5°C.
On arrival at the pack shed the fruit is placed in a cool room at 5 °C overnight to pull the pulp temperature down to 15 °C, then they are packed the next day. The temperature in the grading and packing area is kept at 13.5 °C.
Computer control We were shown a computer room where they use programs to help monitor irrigation, pest scouting and tractor movement.
(a) Pests
The pest scouting software uses data collected by pest scouts in the field to visually display pest levels across the orchard. When pest scouts collect plant samples (e.g. leaves) from the field they record their locations with GPS units. Sample size is 20 leaves per tree and 25 trees are sampled per 2 ha block. The samples are brought back to the lab where they are assessed for pests and diseases and the data entered on the computer. The software generates a map using traffic light colours to indicate the level of pests across the orchard.
Green - OK Yellow – needs further monitoring and biological control measures Red – needs to be sprayed with insecticides
Main pests monitored are:
Red mites- Oligonychus yothersi Brown mites - Oligonychus punicae Fiorinia fioriniae scale Hemiberlesia sp. scale
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On-scree traffic light ap ge erated fro information collected by pest scouts Copies of these maps are taken by drivers of spray rigs. Tractors have GPS units too to show their location, this information is monitored in the control room to ensure that the driver is treating the correct block.
(b) Irrigation
The orchard uses a software program called D ea developed by Talgil in Israel to control irrigation and injection of fertigation, controls can be by wire or radio.
Irrigation takes place during the day between 5 am and 6 pm. They have electronic tensiometers placed at 30, 60 and 90 cm depth.
Tensiometer readings at 30, 60 and 90 cm depths from one monitoring site 31 graphed on computer
AVO PERÚ S.A.C. EN SUEÑO ORCHARD, NEAR TRUJILLO - SAT SEP 12TH Avo Perú is an agro industrial company founded in 2004 and dedicated to the cultivation, processing and export of high quality fruit and vegetables in an environmental and socially beneficial manner.
Our host for the day was Dr Pedro Cisneros. The E Sueño o chard forms part of Grupo Rocio and is situated a out a hou s d i e south of the city of Trujillo in the Viru valley, in the state of La Libertad. It forms part of the Chavimochic irrigation development (name derived from the Chao, Viru, Moche and Chicama valleys) in the State of La Libertad. Chavimochic has a potential of 170,000 ha and is supplied with water from a channel that will eventually be 152 km long.
En Sueño is situated about 20 km from the ocean and for this reason is less humid and has a greater diurnal variation. In winter the nights are typically 14 °C and the days 21 °C. Ambient humidity is 60%
The property consists of 6,000 ha of which 2,000 ha are currently irrigated. As well as about 620 ha of avocados the property also grows 700 ha of blue berries, about 600 ha of asparagus and a native t ee alled ta a Caesalpinia spinosa) which looks like a tamarind tree but the seed pods are used for their tannin content and also to provide a thickening agent for the food industry. The parent company also has a herd of 6,000 dairy cattle and produces about 2 million chickens per month for meat. The manure from the chickens and cattle are used in the orchards. Centre pivot irrigators are not used because the increased humidity produced from them causes some disease issues.
The main irrigation canal which will extend for152 km long once completed
Development costs, tree production and establishment Pedro quoted land preparation for avocados as follows:
USD 20,000/ha for land and associated water rights of 10 ML/ha (USD 4,000 15 years ago) USD 2,000/ha to level USD 1,000/ha to treat with organic matter USD 3,000/ha to install drip irrigation
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Rootstock seed can be kept in the cool room for up to four months. Seedlings are raised in nursery bags then planted out and are grafted in the field about two weeks after planting. Depending on the time of the year a side-graft or a patch graft is used. They do not like to keep the trees in bags for lo ge tha fou o ths othe ise the pla ts e o e pot ou d a d de elop J oots. G afti g a be done at any time of year. Precocity of young trees depends on when they were grafted; those grafted before December will flower in September and produce their first crop the following year.
The orchard makes extensive use of bana grass for sheltering young avocado trees and reducing dust.
They have found it is important to incorporate significant amounts of organic matter into future tree lines. Typically 100 tonnes/ha of compost, chicken or cow manure are used to give life to the soil. If compost is used then trees can be planted straight away, if uncomposted manure is used then about a month must elapse before trees are planted. Trees just do t g o ell i unimproved sand. Also, the soil is inoculated three times per year with Trichoderma.
Pedro said that blueberries are forced to crop twice per year are many times more profitable than avocados, their sale price is USD10 to 20 per kg. Blueberries and asparagus are exported by air and sea.
Bulldozers levelling a large dune to plant more avocados
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Varieties, rootstocks and spacing Hass and Maluma Hass are grown. The main rootstock used is Zutano, it was recommended by consultants from Chile and North America for its vigour, however production tends to be irregular. West Indian rootstocks from Israel perform better. These include Degania, Ashdot and Zrifin. Lula is also used.
A out half of the t ees o E Sueño a e ea s old, a d the est a e th ee o fi e ea s old. Most are planted at a spacing of 7 x 3.5m giving a tree density of 408/ha.
Maluma Hass (grafted onto Lula rootstocks) produces bigger fruit here (typically 280 g, equivalent to an Australian tray count of 20) but mature no earlier in the season even though they flower earlier. However in growing areas south of Lima they mature 4 weeks earlier than Hass (in New Zealand they are reported to mature later than Hass).
Maluma has more lenticels and a thicker skin than Hass; it is higher yielding but must reach the cool room sooner. In adjacent blocks planted in October 2013 Hass yielded 3 t/ha this year compared to Maluma Hass which yielded 8 t/ha.
Malu a Hass ea hes % oil he d atte is % ut it does t ipe p ope l at this le el of dry matter so should not be picked till at least 22% dry matter.
Hass at left compared with Maluma Hass at right. Maluma Hass are more upright and compact so could perhaps be planted at closer density than Hass.
Irrigation Water is supplied by the channel which also supplies the city of Trujillo and many other agricultural enterprises. There is clay in the irrigation water so settling ponds are used with flocculants. The water also contains lime. During the wet season in the mountains mud has to be pumped out of the settling ponds every day. Irrigation reaches the avocado blocks by gravity.
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Clear water from the top of the settling pond in the background overflows into the section in the foreground from where it is used for irrigation.
Irrigation is delivered to the trees via three lines of drippers per tree row. Drippers deliver either 1.6 L/hr drippers every 40 cm or 2 L/hr every 50 cm, both systems deliver 42 L/tree/hr.
Trees use about 4mm per day. In summer trees are irrigated two or three times per day
Cost of water at this orchard is USD0.03/cubic metre (= USD30/ML) and they are currently using about 10 ML/ha/year but the trees are still young.
The post treatment holding pond has a capacity of 10 ML.
Nutrition The soil and water both have a neutral pH. Phosphoric acid is added to the irrigation water to lower the pH to about 6.5. (Note: blueberries require a soil pH of 4.5).
Calcium and boron sprays are applied to the avocado trees at flowering.
Table 10. Typical rates of nutrients used at En Sueño (kg of element/ha/year)
Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Calcium Magnesium 240 60 300 50 40
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The weekly rates of nitrogen and potassium vary according to the phenological stages as follows.
kg N/week/ha 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Prune Pre- Flower & set 1st fruit Fruit growth Maturity & flower shedding harvest
Figure 3. Application of nitrogen through the season
kg K/week/ha 12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Prune Pre- Flower & set 1st fruit Fruit growth Maturity & flower shedding harvest
Figure 4. Application of potassium through the season
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Pests and diseases Brown mites (Olygonychus punicae), they cause russetting on fruit and leaves Daghbertus sp. (a type of mirid), they mainly feed on young fruit by sucking on them causing protrusions Armoured scale insects Caterpillars (Lepidoptera)
If Daghbertus has to be sprayed, rotenone is used.
Sulphur and abamectin are sometimes used to control brown mites.
Methomyl is sometimes used on caterpillars.
Table 11. Incidence of main pests
Stage Start of Flowering Fruitset Hardening Growth of fruit Harvest Pruning flowering & and start of of spring flowering shoot shoots growth Month Aug–Sep Sep-Oct Oct-Nov Nov-Dec Dec- Jan-Feb Mar-Apr End Jun- Jul-Aug Jan Apr-Jul Jul Scale Scale Scale Scale Scale insects insects insects insects insects Daghbertus Daghbertus Daghbertus Daghbertus Mites Mites Mites Mites Mites Lepidoptera Lepidoptera Lepidoptera
Their oldest avocados (10 years old) were on mini-sprinklers but in year 2 developed Phytophthora- like symptoms when the mulched area got too wet. This stress in turn led to Lasiodiplodia theobromae dieback symptoms. This disease is always present and manifests itself as rotting in branches when the trees come under stress. The mini-sprinkler irrigation was changed to drip irrigation and trees were stumped.
Trees suspected of suffering from Phytophthora root rot are sprayed after summer and spring leaf flush hardening. They also put phosphorous acid through the fertigation system. The latter is not recommended in Australia.
Trichoderma spp. are re-introduced to the soil via the fertigation system three times per year.
Canopy management Pruning is managed taking into account the following criteria:
Distribution of light in the tree Maintaining the height of the trees between 3.5 and 4 m (which also helps to balance the above and below ground portions of the tree). To facilitate the agronomic and phytosanitary practices
Whe t ees e e t p u ed fo t o ea s the t ees got too ig and had to be stumped. The 10 year old block that was stumped just 12 months earlier is flowering strongly and is expected to yield about 14 t/ha after missing just one year of production. The s all u e of t ees that did t
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recover well were removed and the sites replanted (it is much easier to establish replants here because Phytophthora root rot pressure is very low). This stumping process may be adopted as a regular management practice when the trees get to about 10 years old. After stumping, water is ithheld fo da s to e ou age oot g o th. See also T ee p odu ti it ati g s ste elo .
The block on the left has just been stumped, the block on the right was stumped just 12 months earlier but is flowering already and, after missing just one year of production, is expected to yield about 14 t/ha next year.
Table 12. Tree phenology at En Sueño
Stage Months Swelling of flower buds End of August Start of flowering September Flowering September - October Fruitset October - November Fruit 30mm diameter (olive size) November - December Fruit 50 mm diameter December - January Fruit 70 mm diameter January - February Fruit larger than 70 mm diameter February - March Harvest End of April till July Pruning August
Flowering and fruitset The property is only 10 years old and being located away from the fertile river valley there were no insects present to carry out pollination. To address this issue bees are brought in, they have their own apiarists, construct their own beehives and have planted 60 ha of flowering species to encourage the pollinators. They currently have 2,000 of their own hives and have a plan to expand these to 6,000 hives within the next two years. Basil, Portulaca and Cuphea are grown and are all attractive to pollinating insects. Basil was chosen because it flowers much of the year and produces a lot of nectar, Portulaca was chosen based on the theory that since its flowers close in the middle of the day (closed from about 11 am till 3 pm) the bees will move to the avocados at this time which is when there should be cross over between male and female avocado flowers. Cuphea was chosen because it flowers most of the year. A hive density of 6 to 10 per hectare is used in the avocado
38 blocks. There are both African and Carniolan honey bees present. Each hive contains a minimum of 15,000 bees.
Pollinizers60 ha occupy of Portulaca, 5% of planting Cuphea spaces and basil and are comprise planted Zutano to help or exp Zutanoand the and local Edranol. bee population.
About 5% of trees are planted as pollinizers, usually Zutano and Edranol. Zutano flowers a bit earlier than Hass at this location whilst Edranol provides good overlap. Initially they get better fruitset in the Hass closest to the pollinizer trees but after the natural shedding events the yield is the same.
Good flowering is happening every year thus far. Flowers vary from predominantly determinate to indeterminate from year to year.
Pa lo ut azol supp esses the sp i g egetati e flush too so e deg ee. It is effe ti e i off ea s.
Yields
Avocados in the desert environment39 of El Sueño orchard
Table 13. Yield history of the now 10 year old trees
Tree age in years Yield t/ha 2 1.6 3 7.2 4 4.6 5 13.6 6 26.2 7 12.9 8 15.5 9 14.9 10 11.8
Table 14. Yield history of the now 5 year old trees
Tree age in years Yield t/ha 2 5.1 3 18 4 14
At En Sueño better crops (about 25 t/ha) follow relatively cool winters whilst lower yields are obtained after very mild winters. After warm winters flowering tends to be short, only lasting about one month, whereas after cool winters flowering lasts about two months.
Tree productivity rating system Each year trees are given a rating for productivity and this is painted on the trunk. Red if there are less than 100 fruit, blue for more than 300 fruit and yellow and green in between. Trees that accumulate several red marks are removed when the block is stumped and replaced with a new tree. On the othe ha d t ees that o siste tl pe fo ell, du ed supe t ees , are cloned and used as replacement tress, this way the block is potentially getting more productive each year.
Close up of stumped tree (left) and one that was stumped 12 months earlier (right)
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CONGRESS FIELD TRIP, LA CALERA - WED 16TH La Cale a is situated about 200 km south of Lima via the Pan American highway in the Chincha Valley. On the way to La Calera we passed through the fertile Cañete river valley which grows a range of crops including asparagus, artichokes, avocado, beans, capsicum, cassava, cauliflower, cotton (including the brown Pachuca cotton for people allergic to white cotton), seed cotton (the Tanguis cotton variety which was bred in Peru), a da i s, elo s, s eet potato a ote a d tomatoes.
Table 14. Meteorological data for Chincha Alta, Latitude 6.76° S, Longitude 79.84° W, Elevation 27m
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Ave/Tot Mean High 27.4 28.3 28.7 27.0 23.9 21.7 20.6 21.0 21.6 22.7 23.7 25.7 24.3 Temp Celsius Mean Low 16.9 18.1 17.7 15.9 13.5 12.2 11.7 11.2 11.8 12.5 13.5 15.5 14.2 Temp Celsius Mean Precipitation 1 1 0 0 1 3 2 2 2 1 1 0 14 mm
Father and son who run La Calera agricultural business
La Calera Agricultural Business La Calera Group is a family owned business headed by Estuardo Masías with three generations of experience in the agricultural industry over a period of more than 40 years. They have approximately 2,700 ha of farmland in total. They are the leaders in egg production in Peru and also one of the leading citrus producers in Peru, with 17 estates growing over 1000 hectares of citrus in 8 different valleys along the southern coast of Peru. Amongst their annual outputs are 40,000 tonnes of citrus, 10,000 tonnes of table grapes, 4,000 tonnes of avocados and each day a staggering 4 million eggs (from a total of 7 million chickens). Most of the latter appear to be produced in the mountain valleys just above the orchard. Avocados were first exported from La Calera to Canada in 1996.
The family has tried 14 different crops including the production of cochineal from the cochineal scale insect which is raised on the Opuntia cactus.
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An eight year old block of Hass on Degania 117 rootstocks
The region has a typical desert climate. With no rain to interfere in the agricultural production, the fruit is very reliable in terms of harvest dates and volumes. Long hours of sunlight gives high brix to the citrus fruit, and the cool nights confer good fruit colour. The weather conditions across a number of farms offer different micro climates, which make it possible to produce very late or very early fruit.
Nearly 800 hectares of citrus, along with 200 hectares of Hass avocados and 150 hectares of table grapes supply fruit almost year-long.
Farming operations are mechanised and include careful orchard management with drip irrigation. Fruit harvest is done exclusively by hand and transported directly to their packing house (Prolan) where the export process begins.
La Calera farm The fa e isited as La Cale a hi h ea s limestone quarry ); it is situated in the state of Ica at the foothills and in the lower valleys of the Andes Mountains in the Chincha Valley next to the Chincha River and is the headquarters of the operation. It took us four hou s drive south by bus along the Pan American highway to reach from Lima. After the agrarian reform in 1969, La Calera was left with only 50 hectares. These days, La Calera is approximately 700 hectares in size of which 250 hectares are planted to Hass avocados. Other crops include a wide variety of citrus, lúcuma (a fruit native to South America which is mainly used in desserts), peaches, and apples. The administration centre fo La Cale a is located here together with all the egg production.
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A ten year old block of Hass on Topa Topa rootstocks
Climate
It has a dese t ith i tuall o ai fall ut ild te pe atu es. Te pe atu es do t fall elo °C and never go above 31°C
Soil
The soils here are alluvial loams (the orchard is alongside the Chincha river) but can be highly saline (up to 40 mmhos) and must be flushed with good quality water; a new block is flushed for four years before being brought into production. (Note: 1 mmho/cm = 1 dS/m = 1,000 µmho/cm). The pH of the soil is 7 to 8 as a result of calcium in the irrigation water.
Varieties, rootstocks and spacing
Hass is the main variety and is grown predominantly on Zutano, however Topa Topa and Degania 117 are also used. Trees range from recently planted to 15 years old. Spacing is mostly 5 x 3m (667 trees/ha).
Irrigation
The managers acknowledged the importance of ensuring that sufficient oxygen reaches the avocado roots. Irrigation is applied every day via two lines of drippers per row. Irrigation scheduling decisions are assisted by the use of dendrometers that measure trunk size. They have 16 irrigation stations and volumes applied per year vary from 7 to 9 ML/ha/yr. The salinity of the irrigation water is very low measuring only 1 mmho however it does have 4 ppm of calcium in the form of calcium carbonate which keeps the soil pH high.
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Nutrition
They take advantage of their large volumes of chicken manure, applying it once per year to the orchards and also using it in a digester to make methane to provide power. The liquid that comes out of the digester goes into a 10 ML storage dam from where it is added to the irrigation water as fertigation. Trees are fertigated three weeks out of every four, the soil is flushed of salts every 4th week. They do have a rat problem as a result of the chicken feed but encourage cats around the property as a form of control. Taking into account all the sources of nutrition including the chicken manure and digester liquid their annual application of macro elements is as follows.
Table 15. Typical rates of nutrients used at La Calera (kg of element/ha/year)
Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Calcium Magnesium
200 48 332 61 39
Pests
The ai pests a e ue esas s ale i se ts including the armoured scales Lepidosaphes species), red mite (Oligonychus yothersi a d i ho de esto asket ug , Oiketicus kirbyi).
Canopy management
The p u e to a hedge o a d also i a V .
Flowering and fruitset
They introduce eight hives per hectare at flowering but also encourage blow flies for pollination which they do by using chicken manure and spreading waste to the extent that the insects were breeding in the mulch under the trees and maggots were easy to find.
Maggots of blow flies (left) in the chicken manure spread in the avocado rows, the adult blow flies
were seen in big numbers on the avocado flowers (right). 44
Sunny® is applied in two or three sprays at flowering (October and November) so that a total of 1% is applied (10 L per hectare), e.g. two sprays at 0.5% or three sprays at 0.3%.
Hass is the principal variety and 6% of trees are Zutano as pollinizers.
Harvest and yields
Harvest takes place in winter and they aim to achieve an average yield of 16 to 17 t/ha.
Labour
1,000 houses have been built for staff. Staff can buy these houses for USD2,000 pay them off over 20 years.
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CONGRESS FIELD TRIP, AGRICOLA HOJA REDONDO SA - WED 16TH
Hoja Redo do is situated o the southe side of the Chi ha Valle a out k south of Li a. It is i the El Ca e dist i t, i the P o i e of Chi ha a d the State o Depa t e t of I a.
Currently the company cultivates around 800 ha in the province of Chincha and in June 2013 they purchased 1,000 ha in the Province of Chepen (La Libertad state) in the north of Peru (about mid- way between Chiclayo and Trujillo).
Their principal crops at Chincha are 415 ha of mandarin (338 ha of W Murcott, 41 ha of Satsuma and 36 ha of Tango), 312 ha of avocado and 68 ha of table grapes. The source of water is subterranean. At their Chepen property they grow 122 ha of avocado.
Avocados from Hoja Redondo are exported to USA, Europe and Japan.
Varieties, rootstocks and spacing
Hass is the only variety and is grafted to Topa Topa, Zutano and some West Indian (Antillean) rootstocks. Trees are 2, 4, 8, 12, 13 and 14 years old and the following spacings are used.
6 x 4m = 417/ha 7 x 3m = 476/ha 5 x 2m = 1,000 ha
Stro g deter i ate floweri g at Hoja Redo do . Four ear old trees o 6 4 spaci g. Phytosanitary arrangements for our visit.
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Flowering and fruitset
Ettinger and Zutano are used as pollinizers. As well as having pollinizer trees, some Hass trees have branches grafted to the pollinizer variety. Beehives are introduced at between 5 and 10 hives per ha.
No plant growth regulators are used.
A pollinizer variety has been grafted onto a branch of the Hass tree Irrigation
There are two lines of drip irrigation per tree row and tensiometers are used for scheduling. The maximum demand at this orchard reaches 140 L/tree/day. Annual application is about 8.5 ML/ha,
Nutrition
Table 16. Typical rates of nutrients used at Hoja Redondo (kg of element/ha/year)
N P K Ca Mg B Fe Zn Cu Mo
180 44 208 50 48 5 0.5 6 2 0.5
The fertigation system has different injector pumps for different purposes:
Pump 1: Macro elements Pump 2: Micro elements Pump 3: Acidity regulator (they aim for pH 6 for the solution)
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Pump 4: Phytosanitary products (e.g. imidacloprid is applied for scale insects, note however that imidacloprid is one of the most toxic chemicals for bees and has been linked to Colony Collapse Disorder)
Trees are fertigated daily. Iron is applied as a chelate. There can be significant levels of boron in the underground water which is suitable for avocados but too high for citrus (where the levels can be phytotoxic). The water can also contain high levels of chloride and for this reason West Indian rootstocks are often preferred in this region as they are more tolerant to this element.
The elaborate fertigation system that uses separate injector pumps for different types of product.
Pests and diseases
Main pests are queresas (scale insects) and red mite. They use beneficial insects for the control of these pests, releasing Stethorus ladybird beetles and Euseius spp. (species of Phytoselid predatory mites). There is no fruit fly in this valley.
The principal diseases are Lasiodiploidia, Botrytis and Cladosporium. They inoculate the soil through the irrigation system with Trichodermas to help suppress Phytophthora root rot. Botrytis attack on flowers has the potential for causing significant losses.
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Table 17. Insecticides used when necessary.
Pest Pesticide trade Active ingredient Dose Comments name
Red mite Cosavet Wettable 0.25% fungicide & sulphur miticide Queresas (scale Movento Spirotetramat 0.075% Apply at the time insects) Lancer Acephate 0.075% of low bee
Confidor Imidacloprid Not available activity because all three are highly toxic to bees.
Botrytis, BC 1000 Dust Ascorbic acid 18 kg/ha Cladosporium (extract of citrus pulp
and seed)
Prochloraz 0.1%
Sportak
Canopy management
Their aim is to get light inside the tree. They top the trees for this purpose.
Canopy management includes topping the trees as this photo illustrates
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Table 18. Tree phenology at Hoja Redondo
Stage Months
Development of flower buds June, July, August
Flowering and fruitset September, October
Growth & development of vegetative growth and fruit November, December
Development of vegetative growth and fruit January, February, March
Fruit maturation (harvested after reaching 23% DM April, May
Flowering and fruitset
Managers are concerned about the high proportion of determinate flower panicles this season as it often results in sunburnt fruit.
Yields
Typical yields are 18 t/ha
Labour
Labour for all crops is normally 800 to 1,000 but grows to 2,500 during harvest.
Some of the congress attendees who participated in the congress field trip. Delegates in this group came from Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and USA.
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SUMMARY
Standout features of the Peruvian avocado industry are:
Pe u s role as avocado producers and exporters. They are already number two in the world (after Mexico) but most of their trees are still very young and they are still planting large areas at a phenomenal rate. The professionalism and high standard of the new developments which is partly driven by the strict requirements required to export fruit to Europe and North America The climate and environment where they grow, viz. true deserts with virtually no rain, but with temperatures that are mild and evaporation rates that are not high. The low pest and disease pressure in this environment. The level of government support to provide major infrastructure such as major dams and the means to get the water to where it is needed. The willingness of Peruvians to share information and their passion to learn.
Other features of note:
The disease Lasiodiplodia theobromae can be a problem causing stem end rot, cankers on trunks and branches and in severe cases death of trees. There are generally two harvest periods each year in northern Peru, the first is a size pick in March-June, the second in August. Farm labour costs between USD 12.50 and 15/day. Annual irrigation and nitrogen rates are higher than expected; perhaps they are over- irrigating and in doing so leaching nitrogen fertiliser beyond the root zone. The use of pollinizers is questionable in this mild climate. The newest export packing shed can pack 48 tonnes of avocados per hour. A new rapid cooling room design and pallet arrangement has been developed for packed fruit that takes the temperature down from about 28°C to 4 or 5°C within 4 hours. ProHass manage 70% of the Peruvian crop. China and Japan are now accepting Peruvian and Chilean avocados. For Arato Montegrande orchard the cost to grow, pack and transport avocados overseas is in the region of USD1.20 to 1.80 per kg. The Arato group of companies will soon have 3,225 ha of avocados. Camposol orchards already have 4,000 ha. Corn planted around young trees provides shelter and is also a good source of mulch. Fungi of the Hirsutella genus which are pathogenic to some insects, mites and nematodes are used as biological control agents. Pest scouts are used to monitor mite and scale insect levels. In the sand dune country 100 tonnes/ha of compost, chicken or cow manure need to be incorporated into the future tree row prior to planting. O e o ha d is e pe i e ti g ith a South Af i a a iet alled Malu a Hass hi h appears to have advantages at the orchard near Trujillo of a more upright growth habit, higher yields and larger fruit.
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Orchardists go to great lengths to ensure sufficient insect pollinators are available; this may involve planting large areas of flowers to sustain honey bees or spreading chicken waste in the orchard to encourage blow flies that assist with pollination. Every year some orchards mark each tree with a productivity rating; this may be a colour code or a number on a scale of about 1 to 4. The plan is to be able to identify and remove consistently poor producing trees and replace them with clones of the best producing trees. In this environment Phytophthora root rot pressure is low so replants are easier to establish. PGRs are widely used.
Table 19. Typical tree spacing seen in Peru
Spacing 7 x 3.5m 6 x 4m 7 x3m 6 x 3.6m 6 x 3m 7 x 2.5m 6 x 2.5m 5 x 3m 5 x 2m
Density 408 417 476 463 556 571 667 667 1000 (trees/ha)
Table 20. The main insect pests in Peru, their damage and the main control methods
Insect pest Scientific name Damage caused Methods of control Red mite Oligonychus yothersi Russetting on leaves Wettable sulphur and Brown mite Olygonychus punicae and fruit abamectin. Beneficial fungi of the Hirsutella genus Thrips Various species Biological methods & pesticides Avocado mirid Daghbertus spp. Sucks fruit causing Rotenone raised bumps or pimples. Also attacks flowers. Scale insects Fiorinia fioriniae White oils Hemiberlesia spp. Armoured scale Lepidosaphes spp. Beneficial insects i se ts Que esas Stethorus ladybird beetles and Euseius spp., Spirotetramat, Acephate Avocado looper Oxydia vesulia Methomyl transponens Bag worm Oiketicus kirbyi ( Bicho de cesto ) (similar to Saunders case moth in Australia (Oiketicus elongates))
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Useful websites
Peru weather bureau website: [email protected]
ProHass: www.prohass.com.pe www.avocadosfromperu.com
Agricola Cerro Prieto (ACP) orchard: www.agricolacerroprieto.com
La Calera orchard: www.lacalera.com.pe
Acknowledgements
The autho s t ip as fu ded Ho ti ultu e I o atio Aust alia, A o ados Aust alia Ltd a d the Quee sla d Go e e t as pa t of p oje t AV A hie i g o e o siste t ields of ualit fruit in the Aust alia a o ado i dust . Si o ould also like to tha k Joh T as fo gi i g up his place on the pre-congress tour so that he could participate and to Neil Delroy for assisting with information.
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