Avocados represent one of the most popular cultivars and the market for avocados is among the fastest expanding markets worldwide as avocados contain a variety of essential nutrients, unsaturated fats and vitamins and also important phytochemicals.

Avocado production, however, is associated with significant water conflicts, stresses and hot spots. Understanding the role of insect pollinators in crop production is also necessary as they increase the yield and quality of many crops. Hence research work on pest management, disease models and other crop-improving management practices is very important to avoid production pitfalls.

Decision support systems in avocado production

With the use of METOS^® decision support system you can monitor all relevant climatic conditions and soil parameters, and bring your agricultural work management one step higher.

Combine monitored and forecasted data to get a powerful tool, which will help you optimize your production and produce more avocados with less.

• WEATHER MONITORING: Be prepared for frost protection. Set an SMS alarm to notify you, when frost conditions are approaching. Temperatures below – 1,1 °C can be lethal for your avocado trees. The exact temperature depends on the variety and for how long frost conditions occur.
• FERTILIZING MANAGEMENT: Optimize fertilization time. The best is if the spreading of the fertilizer is followed by rainfall.
• NUTRITION MANAGEMENT: Quick soil analysis helps you apply the appropriate amount of nutrients.
• PLANT PROTECTION MANAGEMENT: With the help of disease models, spraying window forecasts optimize your plant protection activities having optimal control of the diseases in your avocado field. For example: Getting an overview when high risks of disease infections are determined in the field, using forecast to decide if spraying is optimal at that time; for example it it is followed by a rainfall of 30 mm, there is a good chance that it will wash away the prophylactic treatment and you will have to repeat the spraying to keep your avocado trees protected.
• IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT: Monitor your soil moisture to know when your crop is suffering water stress and start your irrigation system on time. Also know when to stop irrigation, in order to not over-irrigate, and to save some irrigation water.

Recommended equipment

Basis sensor set, needed for pest and disease monitoring of the avocado plant includes a rain gauge and sensors for air temperature, relative humidity and leaf wetness. These sensors are available with iMETOS IMT280 and µMETOS NBIoT Disease.

A plant disease model is a mathematical description of interactions among the environment, the host plant and the variables related to the pathogen that can lead to the development of the disease.

Pessl Instruments models have been developed to provide the best information possible to enable conscious decision making and use the best tools to produce more, both in terms of quantity and quality.

Avocado disease models

For a more detailed description (biology, symptoms, modelling) of Avocado diseases, click here.

Watch your crop grow

This is just a glance at solutions that METOS^® decision support system can bring to you and help you to take control of your crop. If you want to know more, you can have a look at our Avocado production use case.