From seed to tray – some field practices to improve avocado fruit quality. Talking Avocados 8(4

Improvement in consumer confidence is seen as a key factor for increasing avocado consumption in Australia. Anthracnose and other fruit rots, chilling injury and physiological disorders are the major contributors to the poor reputation this fruit has among Australian consumers. Maximum, potential fruit quality is determined between fruit-set to harvest, and there are a number of procedures that growers can follow to produce more robust fruit that will better withstand the stresses imposed by the market chain. These include sound nutrition with the enhancement of fruit calcium concentrations, irrigation to avoid imposing stress, effective field spray programs with protectant fungicides, postharvest treatment with prochloraz and the timely removal of field heat. Inter-tree variability within an orchard is also identified as a limiting factor with respect to fruit quality. This is likely due to the widespread use of seedling rootstocks throughout the Australian industry. Rootstocks are reported to influence fruit quality through tree nutrition, particularly calcium. Other disease control strategies such as the enhancement of antifungal diene activity in fruit are discussed