Chile: Avocados in greenhouses

The avocado requires a subtropical climate with a mild winter with no frosts to develop. In Chile, there are few areas with these characteristics and many of them have scarce water resources. The avocado industry is interested in growing, but not having land suitable to grow avocados is a major constraint to achieve this goal. 

As a result, the INIA has started a project in which they use plastic covers on avocado crops to modify the microenvironmental conditions of the crops to see if they can lower their water requirements by 30 to 40%, and increase potential yields by improving the temperatures in winter.

Raul Ferreyra, from the INIA said: "The problem is that Chile doesn't have enough areas that are climatically suitable for growing avocados. Additionally, many of the areas where this crop could be grown have a lack of water. We intend to increase yields and reduce water requirements by using greenhouses. It is an unprecedented bet on a constrained environment for the development of this crop."

A very good producer of avocados in Chile has average yields of nearly 18 tons per hectare, mainly because of weather constraints during the winter period and because of a scarcity of water resources. This technology aims to increase the productive potential by giving the avocado conditions that are more similar to a subtropical climate. Production costs of an avocado orchard in Chile currently vary between 8,000 and 12,000 dollars a year. According to estimates, using this technology would increase production costs by 3,000 dollars each year, which could be paid for with a 1 to 2 ton increase in yields per hectare.

According to Raul Ferreyra, there is a great probability that this project will be successful. "This technology would allow us to give a second wind to our fields, as we could reduce water requirements and increase performance." It is a bet that would enable the industry to increase its supply in a land that lacks water resources and has few areas that have the ideal weather conditions to produce this crop.

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