A global trend and a real opportunity for the agricultural sector in Morocco and elsewhere, the avocado is experiencing constant growth in its production in the Kingdom. With a projection of 100,000 tonnes by 2026, Morocco currently markets some 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes of avocados year after year, of which 33,000 tonnes (2020/21) are destined for the market. ‘export mainly to the EU which nevertheless represents 90% of purchases of this luxury fruit.
Morocco went from less than 2,000 tonnes in 2010 to nearly 33,000 tonnes in 2019, becoming the third largest exporter of green gold on the Continent after Kenya and South Africa. The avocado is potentially recognized as a profitable agricultural crop, even very profitable, hence its reputation as “green gold”. Also, it is clear that the planting rate of these fruit trees has greatly increased in Morocco, sometimes even to the detriment of other varieties of fruit, such as citrus. Each year more and more young avocado orchards appear encompassing more than 7,000 hectares of plantations on our land, mainly in the region of Gharb or 9/10th of this fruit is cultivated for its quality of soil but not that, since also, the climate lends itself cheerfully to its culture, the requirements of the avocado as for the temperature of its growth being between 12.5 ° and 29, 5 ° a climate that allows this part of the Atlantic plain of the Kingdom. For the current season, forecast production in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region is estimated at 60,000 tonnes.
However, this fruit is attractive to investors and to this end, the Israeli company Mehadrin, which achieves an annual turnover of around 300 million dollars, has already been involved since last April in this field in Morocco. Mehadrin with more than 5,000 hectares of farms, is Israel’s largest producer and exporter of citrus and other fruits and vegetables. The company, with more than 70% of products exported worldwide to all continents and mainly to the United States, Canada, the EU and Japan. The company has entered into a joint venture to grow avocados in Morocco, a production that will mainly be exported to Europe. The actual start of the avocado planting operation is scheduled for March 2022. It will then take two to three years to start harvesting and five years for all the avocado trees to reach their full harvest or maximum production capacity. is expected to reach 10,000 tonnes of avocados per year.
But our lawyer does not attract that Israel, Spain sticks its nose there also through a logic of commercial practices that some consider as unfair. In fact, crooked entrepreneurs buy the fruit in Morocco, touch traceability by changing the name of the country, package it and export the product as Spanish to countries of the EU or Great Britain. There are five varieties of avocado, the Ettinger (autumn), the high quality medium sized Fuerte, the larger, long and easy to peel Pinkerton, the most popular Hass of all, which keeps longer and is the more cultivated in Morocco and finally the Roseau more round and plump. By 2030, avocados will become the most traded tropical fruit and production is expected to reach 12 million tonnes, of which 3.9 million tonnes will be exported, overtaking pineapples and mangoes.
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