Behavior of avocado crop (Persea americana Mill.) in “type farms” in Moquegua, Peru

Abstract

The performance of avocado (Persea americana Mill) cultivation was evaluated in “type farms” in the department of Moquegua, Peru. A “type farm” is representative of a group of farms with similar socioeconomic and productive characteristics. A “type farm” with avocado, between 6 and 10 years old, was randomly selected for each group of farms, according to the results of the cluster analysis of the characterization of the avocado-producing farms in the department of Moquegua carried out by Bedoya and Julca (2020), reporting five “type farms” (I, II, III, IV and V); where 50 plants were randomly marked in each one. Monitoring was carried out for one season and the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil, presence of diseases, fruit size and yield were evaluated. It was determined that the highest avocado yield was in “type farm” II with the Hass variety (8.1 t/ha); with the Fuerte variety, the highest yield was in the “type farm” V (4.8 t/ha). The Hass variety had larger fruit size and a higher incidence of Lasiodiplodia theobromae; and the Fuerte variety had smaller fruit size and a higher incidence of Phytophthora cinnamomi. In general, the soils are poor in organic matter (0.28-1.66%), with neutral pH and high apparent density (>1.21 g/cc).