Nondestructive Methods and Molecular Markers for Determining Appropriate Harvest Dates of Five Varieties of Avocado (Persea Americana Mill)

The avocado represents an item of high strategic value in the agricultural development initiatives of the Dominican Republic. This is due to the commercialization potential of the fruit in the markets of the United States, and the comparative advantages that the country presents in terms of geographical location in relation to other producing countries. In regional terms, the country could join Chile and Mexico competitively by forming higher quality fruit production systems, which would contribute to strengthening the regional economy.

The Dominican Republic has ranked fourth among avocado producing countries in the world behind Mexico, Indonesia, and the United States with an average production of 142 thousand MT / year in the last decade. In the last two years, it has reduced its production by almost 50% (from 155 thousand MT in 1998 to 82 thousand MT in 2000) due to the damage caused to the plantations by Hurricane George in late 1998. Despite this situation, in the past year 2000, exports reached a value of US $ 22 million, being the main non-traditional agricultural product for export and involving more than 20 thousand families in the work of handling, harvesting and packing the fruit. The area planted in the next 5 years is expected to increase significantly as a result of government initiatives that boost fruit production in the country.

The main Dominican avocado markets are represented by the United States and Puerto Rico. These markets could be negatively affected if measures are not taken to guarantee the production of a higher quality fruit that meets the minimum quality standards, which include optimum maturity at the time of harvest, required by the Department of Agriculture of the United States (USDA). The poor quality of some shipments, due to unripe fruits, has been the cause of forceful complaints by Florida avocado producers, demanding that the USDA authorities not allow these fruits to enter the American territory. This situation endangers the economic security of thousands of families who depend on the avocado production and marketing business. The objective of this project was to generate technology to determine the optimal moments of avocado harvest according to the variety and to the agro-ecological and soil conditions of the planting area.