Avocado Production in Asia and the Pacific - United Nations in ...
Avocado Production in Asia and the Pacific - United Nations in ...
Avocado Production in Asia and the Pacific - United Nations in ...
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AVOCADO PRODUCTION IN CHINA<br />
Liu Kangde <strong>and</strong> Zhou Jiannan *<br />
1. INTRODUCTION<br />
Ch<strong>in</strong>a has some 80 years history of avocado <strong>in</strong>troduction <strong>and</strong> trial plant<strong>in</strong>g. <strong>Avocado</strong><br />
was first <strong>in</strong>troduced <strong>in</strong>to Taiwan <strong>in</strong> 1918 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>in</strong>to Guangdong <strong>in</strong> 1925. Nowadays,<br />
avocado is reported to be successfully planted on a trial basis <strong>in</strong> Guangdong, Guangxi,<br />
Ha<strong>in</strong>an, Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Guizhou, etc. (Cai, Liu, et al., 1998).<br />
The avocados cultivated <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a were generally <strong>the</strong> progenies of some unselected<br />
poor-quality seedl<strong>in</strong>gs of unknown orig<strong>in</strong>. It was not until 1985 that high yield<strong>in</strong>g varieties<br />
of avocado such as Hass were <strong>in</strong>troduced for trial plant<strong>in</strong>g by <strong>the</strong> Guangxi Bureau of State<br />
Farms, etc. Collection, <strong>in</strong>troduction <strong>and</strong> selection of avocado has been conducted by <strong>the</strong><br />
College of Agronomy, South Ch<strong>in</strong>a University of Tropical Agriculture, s<strong>in</strong>ce 1986 <strong>and</strong> more<br />
than 80 varieties have been selected. Huang Wenzhen <strong>and</strong> Liu Kangde established a 33.3 ha<br />
experimental plot of avocado <strong>and</strong> a nursery <strong>in</strong> Baisa County, Ha<strong>in</strong>an, <strong>in</strong> 1989, to determ<strong>in</strong>e<br />
commercial cultural techniques (Liu, Zhang, et al., 1993).<br />
2. PRESENT SITUATION OF AVOCADO CULTIVATION<br />
<strong>Avocado</strong> is grown <strong>in</strong> Guangxi, Ha<strong>in</strong>an, Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou, Fujian,<br />
Zhejiang (Wenzhou city) <strong>and</strong> Sichuan (Panzhihua city) <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a. There has been no sizeable<br />
commercial production up to now due to various reasons. The largest tract of cultivation <strong>in</strong><br />
Ch<strong>in</strong>a is <strong>the</strong> avocado base <strong>in</strong> Baisa County, Ha<strong>in</strong>an, cover<strong>in</strong>g 33.3 ha. Guangxi has <strong>the</strong><br />
largest area with scattered avocados. Prof. He Guoqiang, Guangxi Staff University of State<br />
Farms, reported that Guangxi used to grow 133 ha of avocado <strong>in</strong> more than 50<br />
counties/cities, of which 66 ha were under commercial production; <strong>the</strong> largest avocado<br />
orchard was <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Shanyu State Farm, cover<strong>in</strong>g 20 ha.<br />
Commercial production of avocado is just at <strong>the</strong> early stage <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> plant<strong>in</strong>g area is<br />
very limited. No data on avocado is available <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> local statistical yearbooks. <strong>Avocado</strong> sets<br />
flowers after 2-3 years of plant<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> yields 35-103.5 kg/tree at <strong>the</strong> age of 7-8 years,<br />
accord<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> reports of trials <strong>in</strong> different locations. The total area under avocado<br />
cultivation <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a was estimated to be 133 ha <strong>in</strong> 1998 with a production of around 1,000<br />
tonnes.<br />
Most avocados planted before 1985 were seedl<strong>in</strong>gs, <strong>and</strong> budded <strong>and</strong> grafted plants of<br />
desired varieties have been used only <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> last ten years. To date, Ch<strong>in</strong>a has selected more<br />
than 70 avocado varieties <strong>and</strong> more than 10 elite l<strong>in</strong>es. Some of <strong>the</strong> commercial varieties<br />
such as Lula, Pollock, Booth 7, Booth 8, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> local variety ST 3 , have good performance <strong>in</strong><br />
Ha<strong>in</strong>an <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r prov<strong>in</strong>ces. The varieties used <strong>in</strong> trials, at present, are <strong>in</strong>dicated <strong>in</strong> Table 1.<br />
* Ch<strong>in</strong>ese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Danzhou, Ha<strong>in</strong>an 571737, Ch<strong>in</strong>a.<br />
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