JOC Staff | Nov 16, 2012 8:44AM EST
Predicted volumes for this year’s New Zealand avocado harvest are being reduced. The New Zealand Avocado Grower’s Association is forecasting a harvest of 2.6 million trays — considerably less than the originally forecast 4 million.
Last year’s harvest saw 6 million trays picked. Volume is down because the fruit is smaller after a wet season, the group said. This will mean a reduction in trays, because one tray holds 18 large fruit or around 30 smaller ones.
The good news is that Asian markets prefer smaller avocados.
New Zealand also has been hit with a reduction in its exports of kiwi because of a virus named PSA that has infected the vines in orchards in a number of growing areas of the country. PSA continues to spread into new territory, with two cases recently confirmed in Northland, Kerikeri.