Avocados in South Africa are winter-fruit, produced in humid subtropical areas of the country, mainly in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.
Originally, there were three avocado types suitable for different areas of avocado production. The frost-sensitive West-Indian cultivars developed in the hot, tropical and moist lowlands of Central America, while the Mexican avocado types are more adapted to cooler, tropical high-lying conditions with wider temperature extremes. The third type, Guatemalan avocados, prefers cool, tropical conditions with a narrow range of temperature extremes.
‘Modern’ cultivars such as Fuerte, which is popular in South Africa, have been developed by natural and bred combinations of original avocado types.
In Fuerte’s case, a cross between Guatemalan and Mexican, allows the cultivar to be grown in climates with a wider temperature range than the pure Guatemalan type.
Avocado Harvest Seasons
The time for avocado harvesting depends on the climatic region as well as the cultivar. In South Africa, the bulk of avocados are produced from March to September, depending on the production area and the cultivar which can extend the season from February to November.
For example, the Fuerte avocado is harvested from February to April around the town of Levubu in the far north of the Limpopo province. Yet, it can be picked from May to August in the southern parts of the KwaZulu-Natal province. Fuerte is also the earliest avocado cultivar.
One of the latest cultivars is Ryan, which can be harvested as late as October from farms in KwaZulu-Natal. Other late varieties are Lamb Hass, which is the latest cultivar, as well as the large round Reed, Carmen-Hass and Gem.
Due to the limited season for the availability of avocados in South Africa, many private producers have developed cultivars to extend the harvest season. Two examples include GEM, which is harvested four weeks later than Hass, and Carmen-Hass, an early-maturing avo, harvested four weeks earlier than Hass.
By Marinda Louw