California Fruit and Vegetable

Tag: Avocado

  • Westfalia Fruit Expecting Strong 2023 Gem Avocado Season

    Westfalia Fruit, the market leader in growing, ripening, handling, and distributing quality avocados, announces the start of its 2023 GEM® avocado season, expecting a strong supply of fruit from mid-April through mid-July.

    Westfalia Fruit US is excited to present the GEM® avocado to the United States market. GEM is a gourmet avocado that Westfalia holds exclusive marketing rights in Africa, the EU, and many other regions of the world. GEM® is truly a unique avocado with gold-flecked skin and a creamy, buttery texture. It is a larger piece of fruit with a slightly nutty flavor. GEM® is a gourmet avocado that will elevate the avocado category.

    “The GEM® avocado has an exceptional flavor profile and is the darling of chefs, home cooks, and foodie fanatics alike,” said Raina Nelson, President/CEO Westfalia Fruit Marketing USA LLC. “Westfalia Fruit has successfully and exclusively marketed the GEM® in key markets across the globe to create a best-in-category avocado that drives consumers to a new avocado destination. We are excited to launch similar programs here in the U.S. and build upon the global GEM® successes we’ve designed with world class retailers.”

    Westfalia Fruit US’s GEM® program will be supplied with California fruit but the variety is abundantly grown in other areas of the world like South Africa. The GEM® avocado is a sustainable cultivar with its high yield of fruit on compact trees that are protected from harsh environmental elements under a plush tree canopy. The post-harvest fruit quality is tremendous, and the fruit is hand-plucked at peak ripeness to deliver delicious fruit to consumer’s plates.

    “We anticipate a healthy season for the GEM® variety this year. We are enthusiastic to build dazzling customer programs to drive GEM® awareness with consumers through innovative and proven methodologies that make avocado programs shine,” shares Nelson.

    Westfalia markets prime-quality, ready-to-eat avocados across the globe through its vertically integrated supply chain as well as its technical and commercial expertise. Westfalia is committed to producing safe, exceptional quality food, all while ensuring sustainable, ethical, and responsible management of its bio-resources and the communities and environments across the globe.

    For more information visit www.westfaliafruit.com.

    About Westfalia Fruit Group

    Established over 70 years ago, Westfalia Fruit Group is a global, vertically integrated company and market leader in growing, ripening, processing, shipping, and distributing the product.  The company is committed to sustainability by developing a thorough strategy, which prioritizes the environment, local economies, and most importantly, their people. Westfalia Fruit Group is devoted to producing safe, high-quality food whilst ensuring the sustainable and responsible management of its bio-resources, communities and environment in which they operate. The company is the global leader in varietal and root stock development, protecting the produce industry, now and for the future. To learn more about Westfalia Fruit Group, visit www.westfaliafruit.com/.

  • Tips to Save Avocado from Root Rot

    Root rot is a term referring to any disease where the pathogen damage and deteriorate the plant’s root system. Root rot can occur on most woody and herbaceous plants. Root rot is caused by many soil-borne fungi. Most fungi causing root rot to prefer wet soil conditions. Some of them produce spores (microscopic biological particles that allow fungi to be reproduced) that can survive for a long time in soil or plants debris.

    Avocado root rot. Credit: California Avocado Commission

    Symptoms

    • Small, pale green, or yellow leaves
    • Wilted leaves
    • Leaves show necrotic or brown tips
    • Spare foliage and rare new growth
    • Branch dieback on top of the tree
    • A decline in fruit production
    • Small fruits

    Cause

    • Excess soil moisture or poor drainage
    • Infested soil with fungi spores

    Management

    Before infection

    • Monitor your tree regularly for disease and disease-promoting conditions
    • Purchase certified disease-free trees
    • Purchase root rot resistant cultivars
    • Inspect new tree before planting (roots and foliage)
    • Good irrigation management (stop irrigation when heavy rainfall)
    • Avoid planting your tree where you suspect there was an infected tree before
    • Plant in well-drained soil (or improve drainage by planting on a soil berm)
    • Prevent soil or water movement from an infested area
    • Apply gypsum (gypsum supplies calcium which suppresses the formation of spores
    • Use fertilizer regularly to promote good growth

    After Infection

    • Reduce irrigation schedule (especially when you forecast rainfall)
    • Add drainage around the tree
    • Dry root system by removing soil from the crown of the root system (Air drying)
    • Reapply gypsum
    • Apply fungicides such as phosphonates can help trees tolerate the disease. To apply the fungicide, follow the label. Fungicide may be sprayed onto bark or foliage, drench into the soil with irrigation water, or injected into the trunk. Remember fungicide can only help control the disease, not eradicate it.

    — By Amir Rezazadeh, University of Florida Extension

    Reference:

    UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Avocado
    https://www2.ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/avocado/Phytophthora-root-rot/

  • High Winds & Very Warm Conditions to Hit So Cal Avocado Groves

    California Avocado Commission: The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued an alert concerning high wind gusts and well-above normal heat for the Los Angeles and Oxnard regions.

    NWS notes that moderate to strong Northwest to North winds (15 – 30 mph with gusts of 30 – 50 mph) may occur through Friday, with the strongest winds (gusts as high as 65 mph) expected on Wednesday night and Thursday. The strongest and most widespread winds are predicted for the I-5 Corridor, Montecito Hills and Gaviota Pass, with winds likely to push into the San Fernando Valley and LA Basin. The wind prone areas of Santa Barbara County, Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita Valley also are expected to have gusty conditions.

    These windy conditions could lead to downed trees and branches, possible power outages, damage to portable temporary shelters, and hazardous driving conditions due to cross winds and dust. Fire weather concerns are rated “minimal” due to high fuel moistures.

    Beginning Friday, through next Monday or Tuesday, NWS also is predicting extended “very warm” conditions with max temperatures of 85˚F – 95˚F. The hottest days are expected to be Friday and Saturday, with temperatures 15 – 20 degrees above normal. Low temperatures will range from 55˚F – 65˚F and minimum humidities will vary from 12 – 25 percent.

    To ensure that California avocados maintain their superior quality it is imperative that growers manage their trees and harvest their fruit according to best management practices as outlined below.

    IRRIGATION

    Growers should be irrigating their trees now, in advance of the above normal temperatures and warm dry winds, to ensure that their trees are fully hydrated. It is recommended that an additional 50 percent of the budgeted amount of water be applied the days prior to the forecast winds and above normal temperatures. A well-watered tree will tolerate the stress of high temperatures and drying winds much better than a tree that is suffering from water stress. Signs of heat damage to trees include fruit drop, shoot damage, leaf burn and in severe cases leaf drop.

    HARVESTING

    Every attempt should be made to harvest fruit when temperatures are below 90 °F, and no harvesting should take place when temperatures exceed 95 °F. Temperature in the shade should be monitored during harvesting and, when possible, harvesting crews should be moved to the coolest, least exposed areas of the grove.

    Field bins should be placed under the trees while being filled to protect the harvested fruit from sunburn. Once filled, bins should be moved to a shade structure (open-sided roofed building), or covered with bin covers or light-colored tarps if they cannot be immediately transported to the packinghouse. Never leave filled bins exposed to the direct sun. The surface layer of fruit can easily heat up to more than 15 °F above ambient temperature when exposed to direct sun. Acute sunburn will only show on fruit after it is packed and is a major quality detractor.

    To avoid water loss and decreased fruit quality do not hold fruit too long after harvest. Transport fruit to the packinghouse at least once per day, if not twice daily. Bins should not be left in the grove for more than 8 hours after harvest. Cover bins during transport to avoid sunburn and to reduce water loss.