A few years ago, thanks to a friend's invitation, I had the opportunity to visit southeastern Brazil and meet a cattle ranch owner with nearly 6,000 hectares. We visited the land and evaluated the soil, climate, water sources, and other parameters to determine if it was feasible to establish a trial avocado orchard.

We found local avocado varieties, called "criollas," which are consumed in large quantities in the region. We also located nurseries that could supply us with genetic material. Finally, and very importantly, we evaluated the logistics: packing plants, packaging and availability, distances between the fields and the packing plants and from the packing plants to the ports, and of course, the local consumer market. There are more than 200 million consumers!

After a thorough evaluation, we decided to conduct a trial on approximately 20 hectares and implemented a results evaluation system based on three crop management methods: the conventional method used in Brazil, the more technical method used in Brazil, and the Peruvian method. By method, we mean aspects such as spacing (plant density), bed size, training pruning, irrigation, fertilization, hormone use, production pruning, and so on. Ultimately, all of this is summarized in the costs per hectare for each method.

From the beginning, I had some doubts about the soils; they are red, and for those of us with some experience, clayey. But with a high content of coarse particles, which is unusual, allowing for very good percolation of excess irrigation and rainwater during its short rainy season.

The results, now in their fourth year, have been extraordinary across all three methods, and we have learned a great deal along the way. However, as happened in Colombia and will happen in Ecuador and now in Brazil, there are still challenges to overcome, such as improving the genetic material and preparing professionals to meet the challenge of scaling the project to many more hectares, as well as closely examining tax issues and labor laws.

There are already large lots that are leading the way, but being such a large country, there is plenty of room for development.

We believe Brazil is an ideal place to expand our production windows and thus be able to serve global markets from a different source, as well as our own market, by promoting increased consumption in its various forms, for example, by associating avocado consumption with carnivals!

The Brazilian avocado is a challenge and an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss.

Alfredo Lira Chirif, Peru alfredo@agroleal.pro