How To Start A Lucrative Avocado Farming Business In Nigeria

Avocado, also known by its scientific name Persea americana, is a fruit that grows on trees of the same name. It is an oval-shaped fruit with a tough outer skin, a fleshy edible interior, and a large seed at its center. Avocado is highly nutritious and is widely used in a variety of dishes and culinary applications around the world.

Avocado farming has become a profitable business in Nigeria and Africa, with high demand from local and international markets. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), global avocado production has doubled in the last decade and was estimated at 8.8 million tonnes in 2020, with Mexico being the largest producer., with Africa contributing significantly to the increase.

Nigeria is one of the leading producers of avocado in Africa, with over 200,000 metric tons of the fruit produced annually. The demand for avocado is also increasing in the country, with the Nigeria importing over 10,000 tonnes of the fruit annually. This presents a huge opportunity for local farmers to tap into the market and meet the growing demand. Nigeria has a conducive climate for avocado farming, with the Southern and Western parts of the country being the most suitable for avocado cultivation

Avocado farming is highly profitable, with a high yield of up to 25 tons per hectare and a fast return on investment. Avocado is highly nutritious, with various health benefits, making it a popular fruit in local and international markets.

Avocado farming is a profitable and sustainable business opportunity in Nigeria and Africa, and farmers can take advantage of the increasing global demand for Avocado to boost their earnings and contribute to the local economy.

The Avocado farming business in Nigeria and Africa presents a promising venture with the potential for significant economic and health benefits. Entrepreneurs and farmers looking to invest in this industry should focus on implementing effective farming techniques and innovative marketing strategies to reap the full benefits of the business.

How To Plant Avocado Trees

Planting the trees properly is the first step to successful avocado farming. By preparing the farming site adequately and following appropriate planting techniques, you can give your trees the best chance of establishing strong roots and vigorous growth.

Preparing The Soil For Planting

Before planting, it is essential to prepare the soil for avocado tree. Get rid of the weeds and take a soil sample for analysis to see its composition and nutrient content. Adding organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure to the soil around the tree based on the results of soil testing helps enhance the soil’s structure and nutrient content, creating a more favorable environment for the tree’s roots.

To improve drainage, plant the tree on a mound. This is especially important in farming areas with heavy clay soil. Form a mound that is 3 to 5 feet (0.9–1.5 meters) in diameter and 1 to 2 feet (0.3–0.6 meters) in height.

EOSDA Crop Monitoring

Performing fields analytics based on relevant satellite data to ensure effective decision-making!

Planting Avocado Trees

The best time to plant avocado trees is in the spring. This gives the tree plenty of time to establish roots before the onset of winter weather. Besides, immature trees don’t absorb water well, so they are vulnerable to sun damage if planted in the summer.

The avocado tree’s delicate root system should be treated with care while planting. Make sure the hole for planting a tree is wider than its roots. As for hole depth, it is recommended to be equal to the root ball height. Planting a tree too deeply or too shallowly can limit the root system’s access to water and nutrients and cause the tree to wither.

If you want your trees to reach their full growth potential, you’ll need a large farming area. Make at least 30 feet (9 meters) of avocado planting spacing. Plus, don’t forget about the planting distance of avocado trees from any buildings and constructions: no closer than 13 feet (4 meters).

Fruit quality and yield from a new, seed-grown avocado tree won’t be the same as from the parent tree. Commercial farming relies on grafting techniques to ensure consistent fruit quality

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optimal distance between avocado trees

Proper Care and Maintenance In Avocado Farming

Avocado trees need regular maintenance to stay healthy and productive. The specifics of farming practices may vary depending on your location, climate, and plant variety. Consulting with local agricultural extension services and precision farming platforms can provide valuable guidance tailored to your specific situation.

Watering

If you strive for farming success, water young trees 2-3 times a week. Once the plant’s roots have grown down into the soil for about a year, weekly watering will be sufficient, reducing overall avocado farming’s water usage. Before each watering, wait until the soil has dried out a little.

Mature avocados’ water use is about 2 inches (50 mm) per week. Naturally, seedlings will require far less water. According to the traditional method of measuring soil moisture, it is properly moistened if your handprint remains visible after squeezing the earth around the roots.

However, if you’re after greater precision and command, you can use remote sensing data and modern farming technologies to monitor the moisture levels of the soil around your plants. The EOSDA Crop Monitoring platform provides you with current and historical (since 2002) root-zone and surface soil moisture data. Tracking the moisture levels will allow you to water your plants at just the right times and amounts.

soil moisture graph for avocado farming

Soil moisture and precipitation graph for adjusting avocado irrigation schedule.

As temperatures and sunshine levels change, keep the avocado’s high water consumption in mind and adjust your watering schedule accordingly. If it doesn’t rain enough, a fine-tuned avocado irrigation system has to ensure that the trees get the water they need to grow.

Using the Historical Weather function in EOSDA Crop Monitoring, you can determine if your site has a favorable climate for avocado farming and plan effective irrigation and drainage systems. Additionally, with the help of the Weather Forecast feature, you can protect your crop from water stress by taking proactive farming measures like watering and shading.

Fertilizing

Mature avocados benefit from nitrogen fertilization. Nitrogen is crucial for avocado farming because it promotes leaf growth, fruit production, and the vitality of the tree as a whole.

Shaping And Pruning

There’s a proven practice in avocado farming to shape the trees while they are still young. To foster lateral growth and achieve the ideal shape, pinch the tree’s terminal shoots beginning in its second growing season. Not training upright-growing varieties as young trees increases the difficulty of collecting their fruit and adds to the time for farming operations.

Pruning mature avocado trees is a necessary farming activity for keeping trees tidy and allowing enough light and air circulation. You may prune avocado trees lightly throughout the year. Get rid of the dangling branches to make the tree more accessible for farming purposes, and thin out the overgrown canopy so it lets more light and air through. To keep the tree on the compact side, prune the tips to no more than a third of each branch’s length.

Pest And Disease Control

Thrips, mites, borers, caterpillars, and lace bugs are among the few pests that can damage the orchard. As for diseases, avocado farming is in jeopardy due to Phytophthora Root Rot, the most prevalent and severe avocado pathogen. Anthracnose is also a serious threat to farming since it reduces fruit quality and leads to significant losses, particularly after harvest. To protect your farming land from pests or diseases, always be on the lookout for the first warning signs and react quickly.

Processing satellite imagery using a number of vegetation indices allows for disease and pest monitoring in your orchards. With Split View, you can visually compare the state of your crop on two different days, locate avocado farming areas with atypical vegetation (perhaps due to the development of tree disease and insect invasion), and plan your next steps. There are supplementary indices that are more pertinent at certain times during a tree’s growth cycle than the standard NDVI. For instance, the NDRE index provides a more comprehensive study of plants with a dense canopy, hence, it is often used to evaluate vegetation in the later stages of plant growth.

Split View for the NDRE index maps

Using the Split View mode, compare the NDRE index maps for the chosen farming area for two dates.

Heat Stress Prevention and Control

Extreme heat can cause serious harm to avocado farming. Near the end of summer, when the trees bloom and produce fruit, heat waves and hot winds bring about the biggest problems with avocado trees. Necrosis of flowers and fruit drop in avocados under heat stress in plants can lead to serious yield losses.

Mature trees rarely experience sunburn. However, you should be aware of how to protect young avocado trees from sunburn while they grow. There are common farming practices to cover young trees with a shade net, paint trunks white, and intersperse overstory rows within the rows of avocados to shield them from the sun’s harmful rays.

Weather risk notifications from EOSDA Crop Monitoring can help you prepare for the probable heat stress on plants. Setting threshold values allows you to be notified before indicators surpass their safe limits for farming. You will get a warning email if there is any danger. With this heads-up, you may take precautions to prevent sunscald and other heat-related damage to your plants.

Even though avocado is promoted as a healthy and sustainable fruit, avocado farming negatively impacts the ecosystem. Meanwhile, precision farming technologies have made it possible to manage agricultural inputs more efficiently and lessen the ecological footprint of avocado farming. To ensure long-term environmental viability, growers must also adopt more sustainable farming practices:

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