Avocado industry should focus on Chinese market, says Agbiz
The chamber said the increased exports are a major boost the government’s policy ambition of achieving export-led growth in agriculture
SA’s avocado industry should focus on tapping into the growing Chinese market to improve its growth prospects, the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) said on Monday. Agbiz, which represents commercial farmers and agribusiness enterprises nationally, said the avocado industry has generally performed well in recent years, boosting the government’s policy ambition of achieving export-led growth in agriculture. Between the 1994-95 and 2016-17 production seasons, SA’s avocado output grew by 72% to 77,508 tons. According to data from the department of agriculture, forestry & fisheries, SA exported, on average, about two-thirds of its avocado output between the 1994-95 and 2016-17. China’s avocado imports grew from 4-tons in 2008 to 43,859 tons in 2018, according to data from the Trade Map. According to the SA Avocado Growers’ Association, avocado production in SA has traditionally been concentrated in the warm subtropical areas of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. But due to growing g...
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