The growers of avocados in Australia are being forced to watch their fruit die on trees because of a market oversupply, reported by ABC news.
Since the past decade, production of the fruit has doubled as farmers take advantage of the growing demand, forcing out smaller growers.
Following a recent delivery of avocados to a major market in Queensland, Wolvi farmers Julie and Tony Pratt have had to make some tough decisions.
It is now most economical to let their produce rot.
“We know you shouldn’t do it, [but] we don’t have a choice,” Pratt told the press. “We just will pack out for the orders we’ve got, but you can’t send fruit to the market and get nothing for it.”
With 1,000 trees on their property, the couple were anticipating a strong avocado season in 2021. However, it was the worst they had ever experienced.
“One dollar an avocado [in the supermarket means] all farms are losing money — doesn’t matter whether you’re a small family farm or a corporate farm,” Pratt said.
“What really hurts is when you see that fruit not coming from Australia. It makes it pretty hard to get up the next morning and start up irrigation pumps to prepare for the next crop.”
It was reported in 2016 that avocado production in Western Australia was set to quadruple within five to eight years.
Photo source : www.abc.net.au
