NAIROBI, Kenya, April 18 – Agricultural firm Kakuzi will start harvesting and exporting hass avocados to China and Europe beginning mid-next month for quality purposes.
The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), through its Horticultural Crops Directorate (HCD), announced that the 2023 avocado harvesting season officially opened on March 24th, 2023, but cautioned growers against harvesting immature fruit.
Kakuzi Plc Managing Director Chris Flowers said recent maturity tests have confirmed that the firm’s current crop grown at its Makuyu orchard in Murang’a County has yet to attain the necessary maturity and related quality standards for international export.
He added that the firm is also providing free maturity testing services for smallholder farmers to ensure that only avocados with a minimum dry matter standard of 24 percent are harvested.
Harvesting and exporting immature fruit, Flowers said, is detrimental to the firm’s national avocado development initiatives.
“Maturity testing has been ongoing with the important parameters of dry matter content being closely monitored on our orchards and affiliated smallholder farmers,” Flower said.
“Whilst maturity can vary from growing region to growing region at Kakuzi, the minimum dry matter we export at is 24% up to a maximum maturity of 35%, which we reach by mid-September,” he added.
According to HCD, avocados should be harvested when they reach maturity, which is determined by a minimum dry matter standard of 24 percent.
In a public notice, the Directorate added that harvesting avocados at the recommended stage of maturity of more than 24 percent dry matter content reduces the fruit’s susceptibility to mesocarp bruising.
“By measuring that the dry matter content, and hence oil content, is correct before we export, we can provide our customers with the best eating experience of quality avocados,” Flowers stated.
“No one wants to buy an avocado you can’t eat. Our dry matter content is only 19%, so we have another month before our fruit reaches an export quality.”
