Choosing the right variety of avocado is a cornerstone of a successful avocado farming venture. The variety you select should match your production goals, agro-ecological zone, and available resources to ensure maximum productivity and profitability.

Did you know Kenya grows over 40 varieties of avocados? From the widely known to the lesser-known, there’s a perfect variety for every need.

The Hass variety is the most popular of them all. Known for its creamy texture and rich flavor, it’s the top choice for fresh fruit exports around the worldThen there’s the Fuerte avocado. This variety is preferred for processing, used in everything from avocado oils to purees, offering great versatility in the market.

Hass variety being the main fresh fruit export variety while Fuerte is preferred for processing. Fuerte also feeds into the fresh fruit export market when Hass is off season.

So what are the differentiating characteristics between Hass and Fuerte varieties? 

For Hass variety:

•                It’s a late maturing variety with small-medium fruit preferred by the global market

•                It’s a heavy yielder with an average a mature tree producing 800 fruits (compared to indigenous lines yielding 100 – 200 fruits)

•                Its Oil content is between 18-23 %

•                It has excellent eating quality

•                Has a long shelf life

•                Changes colour when ripe

For Fuerte variety

•                It is one of the most popular cultivars for export in many parts of the world. 

•                Its Fruits are green pear shaped with a thin skin colour with very good creamy taste

•                It is a Mid-season maturing variety and services the market before the main variety (Hass) is mature

•                Also preferred by the oil processors as it easily produces high quality oil

To start a successful avocado farm, it’s important to use high-quality planting materials. The process of generating these materials is called vegetative propagation.

Vegetative propagation ensures that the characteristics of the parent plant, such as fruit quality and tree resilience, are passed down to the new plants

certified scions are selected from high-quality avocado varieties such as Hass and Fuerte

Next, the scions are grafted onto superior rootstocks. These rootstocks are chosen for their strength and resilience, ensuring the young trees can withstand a variety of challenges like pests and diseases.

Now let’s learn how to grow your own rootstock. Here is how to:

1.             First, Identify your seeds form the required rootstock varieties such as GF55, Puebla and Fuerte

2.             Disinfect your seed with a fungicide in the rinsing water after the water cleaning process

3.             Prepare your potting media by mixing 9 parts of top soil form a virgin source, three parts of well decomposed manure and three parts of river sand (to increase aeration). In this add a handful (300g) of NPK 17:17:17 fertilizer

4.             Put this media in a biodegradable potting bag (of minimum dimensions of 6” x 9”)

5.             Place the potting bags on raised parts of the nursery where water drains completely (preferably on raised beds)

6.             Place your seed on the media (in the potting bag) WITH POINTED SIDE OF SEED FACING DOWNWARDS and press the seed into the media until most of the seed goes in. Leave part of the broad side of the seed just visible from the surface of the pot

7.             Water and fill back some media if the initial media settles too far down after watering. DO NOT COMPLETELY COVER THE SEED

8.             Water your rootstocks regular (twice a week during the normal months and thrice in the very hot and dry months. ENSURE ALL WATER EASILY DRAINS from the pots to avoid infection by Phytopthora root rot disease

9.             Weed the rootstock pots regularly by hand (DO NOT USE HERBICIDES)

10.          Maintain only one upright shoot with straight regular internodes by Pruning off all other shoots

11.          Spray with foliar feed twice a month to boost the growth

The rootstock will germinate between 14 and 28 days and will be ready for grafting in three months after attaining Pencil thickness of the stems at 6” above the soil level of the pot

Wondering how to graft your rootstock for your own seedling production. Here is a guide on how to graft:

•                There are several grafting method to select from depending on the size of the rootstocks.

•                For normal 3 months old rootstocks graft use the Top wedge (Cleft Method) while older overgrown rootstocks are grafted using Veneer/ side wedge method

•                To start, Select your ready rootstocks and place them under a grafting shed (atleast 40% shade)

•                Collect your scions from a certified source. Always collect enough scions for a daily grafting task. DO NOT USE SCIONS MORE THAN TWO DAYS OLD. The takes drastically reduce with age

•                Ensure that the scions have atleast two nodes (with two ‘eyes’)

•                Prepare the grafting end of your scion into a perfect wedge by using a sharp grafting knife or surgical blade

•                Cut off the top growing shoot of the rootstock with sharp cross cutting secateurs at the grafting point (atleast 6” above soil level of the pot and must have a pencil thickness girth)

•                Make an incision in the middle of the rootstock at the cut off area at a depth that will accommodate the wedge of the scion (about 1/2”)

•                Insert the scion into the cleft and align the scion perfectly with the rootstocks with the barks matching to ensure the scions feeds form the rootstocks

•                Fasten the scion and rootstock in this position firmly and carefully to ensure no movement and no water gets into the union

•                Leave the grafted seedlings under the shaded area and water regularly and AVOID OVER WATERING

•                The grafted seedlings will start producing new shoots from the buds, usually within two weeks for successful takes

•                An experienced grafter will achieve 95% takes with Avocado

•                Remove the grafting (if not self-degenerating) after two months of successful takes

•                Apply foliar feeds / to dressing fertilizer every two weeks as per the application guidelines

•                These seedlings will be ready for field transplanting in two to three months.

If your trees are un-bearing you can change them through a method called top working. 

Top working is the conversion of old un-bearing trees by cutting off old mature trees and grafting on the cut tree stump.

Congratulations for finish the seed selection training module, remember the right variety of avocado is the cornerstone of a successful avocado farming venture. The variety you select should match your production goals, agro-ecological zone, and available resources to ensure maximum productivity and profitability.

In the next video we’ll learn on how to prepare your land for planting. Stay tuned