AVOCADO PRODUCTION

Marketing strategies is a key aspect in the well being of a firm. Many small and medium enterprises have over time sought to develop workable strategies that will help them better their performance. The Avocado industry in Kenya has been the key forcus in Kenya and many aggreements have been sighend to improve market access. Despite availability of market opportunities, exporters have over time struggled to improve their performance abroad. Their  market share in the international market and get more sales is still low. This study, therefore, looks into the influence of market adaptation strategies on performance of  small and medium enterprises exporting avocado in kenya. The objectives are; to examine the influence of promotion strategy on performance small and medium enterprises exporting avocado in Kenya, to determine the effect of promotion adaptation on performance of small and medium enterprises exporting avocado in Kenya, to determine the effect of product adaptation on performance of small and medium enterprises exporting avocado in kenya and to determine the effect of product quality planning strategy on performance of small and medium enterprises exporting avocado in kenya. The study will use a descriptive research design to meet the expressed objectives. Questionnaires and interviews will be used to collect data from the owners of the firms. The collected data will then be analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis.

Branch cankers and stem-end rot are two of the most important threats to avocado production. During the autumn of 2013, sampling was conducted in the main avocado growing area in eastern Sicily to study the occurrence and establish the causal agents of branch canker and stem-end rot. A total of 94 fungal isolates, recovered from four avocado orchards, were identified by morphological characterisation, DNA sequencing and phyloge-netic analyses as belonging to the genera Colletotrichum, Neofusicoccum or Diaporthe. The majority of the isolates were identified as Neofusicoccum parvum (70.2 %), with the remaining isolates being Colletotrichum gloeosporioides or C. fructicola (16 %), and Diaporthe foeniculacea or D. sterilis (13.8 %), respectively. Patho-genicity tests showed N. parvum was the most virulent species (P = 0.05), whereas Diaporthe isolates were the least so. An intermediate virulence was observed for C. gloeosporioides and C. fructicola, which were associated only with stem-end rot of fruit. Regarding cultivar susceptibility of fruit to these pathogens, 'Hass' was more susceptible to infection by C. fructicola and D. foeniculacea compared with 'Bacon' whereas no significant differences were detected for the remaining pathogens. To our knowledge, this is the first account of the pathogens causing branch canker and stem-end rot of avocado in Italy, and the first studies comparing the relative virulence of each species involved.

The experiment aimed to study the frequency, nectar and/or pollen and hoarding time of bees in avocado flowers and verify the effect of their visits in fruits production. It was marked six inflorescences (three covered and three uncovered) with two replications to evaluate the effect of cross pollination in fruition percentage. The honey bees showed two peaks of hoarding (by 11 to 12 a.m. and 5 p.m.) following the flowers opening of different avocado groups (groups A and B), as much nectar as pollen. However, the honey bees presented a peak greater in the morning than afternoon for nectar, in 1997 and changed in 1998. There was not difference between the periods, for pollen. The fruition percentage was significantly different between the covered treatments (produced less) and uncovered ones (produced more). The crop reduced 81.25% without pollinators.

Well known as the green gold, the mexican avocado is one of the most appreciated agricultural products in the world. Its annual demand allows Mexico to commercialize more than 635 thousand tons of the product among the countries of practically the whole world. That is something that for Luis Doporto Alejandre, the mexican businessman in charge of the Golden Stone and Guacamolito enterprises, is a clear example of the chain of value that exists between the mexican countryside, the producers and the international trade. Nonetheless, Doporto Alejandre is conscious that the real value lies in the hands of hundredths of avocado producers who live in the state of Michoacan, the main producer of avocado for its exportation and the only state with a certificate from the Department of Agriculture of the United States. With its main goal being the supply of the best of the mexican countryside to the world, without intermediaries, Doporto Alejandre created Golden Stone and Guacamolito, two important mexican marketers of fresh and frozen avocado. "Golden Stone and Guacamolito started in Michoacán, a mexican state that has always produced the best hass avocado. Since the beginning, it has been very clear what we want to do: bring the avocado of the best quality, taste and freshness to the whole world, while promoting social responsibility and supporting the mexican economy at the same time. So that is what we did." explains Luis Doporto Alejandre in the midst of the interview. The production of this fruit has served as a vital connection between Mexico and the international trade for more than 30 years. It is not in vain that the mexican avocado competes with the one that is produced in countries like Peru, Colombia and Chile, which despite having increasing exports, they have not surpassed the ones made by Mexico. Even if the United States is the main consumer of this mexican product-taking over 80 per cent of the total annual tons produced in the country-Mexico has succeded in amplifiying its market, reaching countries like Canada, China, Japan, Germany, France and Spain, which held control of 16 percent of the product´s world exports. In a market that has been on the rise since 15 years, the estimates are encouraging for Mexico, since it has been calculated that the mexican fruit will reach exports of up to two million tons in the year of 2030. "Our job will always be focused on keeping the transparency and rentability with the mexican producers, whereas we represent the best and the most selective parts of the mexican countryside. We want to be the best option and the connection par excellence between producers and global buyers. We are well headed towards this goal, so we will keep representing Mexico in the best way." noted Luis Doporto Alejandre.

This research was conducted in Cañete, Lima (Peru), in order to characterize avocado and tangerine farms. From the 55 members of the Farmers Association of Cañete, dedicated to these crops, a sample (n = 48) was selected to conduct a survey about technical, environmental and socio-economic aspects. The results indicated that the farms are of variable extension, intensive management, average high dependence on external inputs, being 81.25% of the farmers oriented to agro-exports, which demands the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and fulfill provisions of the National Service of Agrarian Health (SENASA) on the control of fruit flies, especially Ceratitis capitata. Additionally, 4.17% of farmers dedicated small extensions to basic crops and breeding animals 14.58% for consumption. The cluster analysis by the Ward method with a square Euclidean distance set to eight formed five groups. The first group included farms 3, 5, 33, 41, 47 and 48, which belong to tangerine producers-exporters with instruction level as technicians, complete services, more than 21 ha of crops, productive costs superior than PEN 15 000.00, yields exceeding 45 t ha-1.

Keywords: avocado; tangerine; agro exports; Peruvian coast.

The present experiment was carried out to evaluate some methods to attract honeybee Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera, Apidae) to two avocado varieties (Persea americana Mill.). Extracts of Cymbopogon citratus, Ocimum basilicum, Lippia alba, Citrus sp leaf, Eucalyptus sp leaf, the eugenol and linalol (SIGMA) were employed as attractors. The treatments were: covered; powdered discovered (PD); discovered with tubes and not powdered discovered (NPD). It was observed that the attractiveness of the tested substances disappeared minutes after their application, using or not the glycerin, in both varieties. The utilization of the extracts of Lippia alba, Eucalyptus sp leaves and Citrus sp leaves presented an increase in number of Apis mellifera, in Quintal variety. Data showed that the frequency of A. mellifera was higher in the Quintal variety compared to the Fortuna variety. This might have happened due to higher sugar concentration of nectar in flowers of Quintal variety. It was observed that A. mellifera preferred to visit the flowers of avocado tree of Quintal variety, for nectar and pollen collection, compared to Fortuna variety. None of the characteristics presented significant difference among the treatments, in both varieties of fruit. However, it was observed that, in Quintal variety, the fruits which obtained PD and NPD treatments were heavier, longer and with higher pulp thickness compared to the only obtained fruit of covered treatment. The products tested in tubes were not efficient to attract Apis mellifera in both varieties.