The Avocado Society of Kenya (ASOK) has begun sensitizing farmers on the Horticulture Crops Directorate's new avocado export regulations.
Photo courtesy of Farmers Review Africa.
To comply with international requirements, the Directorate increased the minimum solid content for export avocados from 20 and 21 percent for Fuerte and Hass varieties, respectively, to 24 percent.
Kenyan fruits will be more competitive in the worldwide export market, according to the horticulture authority.
Dry matter is the solid content of a fruit is used to determine its maturity. Some growers have been harvesting immature product with excessive moisture content, posing a significant threat to Kenyan avocado's competitiveness and pricing in worldwide markets.
After a four-month embargo, the country's avocado export window reopened in March this year. Exports of the popular Fuerte and Hass varieties resumed on 4th and 18th March respectively.
Exports had been halted four months before to prevent unscrupulous dealers from harvesting immature crops to profit from increased global prices.