CALIFORNIA AVOCADOS

Avocados are grown on approximately 60,000 acres, primarily in southern and central California, typically in regions tempered by coastal climates. Most of the avocado acreage lies between San Luis Obispo and San Diego.  Avocados are produced in 15 counties but five coastal counties account for essentially all of the state's production. Based on 2002 USDA census data, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties are the top producing counties, accounting for approximately 80% of the total avocado acreage in California (USDA, 2002).  San Diego County is the leading county, producing nearly 47% of California market value for avocados (USDA, 1999a), accounting for 39% of the state's avocado producing acreage (USDA, 2002). Other counties with significant production are Riverside (14%) and Orange (3%) counties.  California produces 95% of the avocados grown in the United States and 10% of the world's production.  From 1990 to 1998, California's average production was 323 million pounds, with typical fluctuations of 5% (USDA, 1999a)  This crop requires relatively few chemicals to control insect pests. Beneficial insects are used as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach in which harsh chemicals are avoided to maintain this balance.

Several varieties of avocados are harvested in California including, Haas, Lamb Haas, Bacon, Zutano, Fuerte, Pinkerton and Gwen.  The Haas variety is the predominant tree accounting for roughly 90% of the total production.  Due to California's unique coastal micro-climate, avocados are harvested year round with a typical tree yielding 60 lbs of fruit per year.  The official avocado crop year runs from November 1 through October 31. Avocado fruit can be held successfully after harvest in cold storage for approximately 2 to 4 weeks.  The size and oil levels of the harvested fruit, in part, determine the grade of the harvest.

Avocados are typically grown in well-drained, fine or course sandy loam soils. Micro sprinkler and drip irrigation systems typically are used to deliver water to the grove floor. Avocado roots are relatively shallow, so deep watering is unnecessary.  There are over two-dozen avocado bearing soils in San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties alone (USDA, 2006).  Approximately 63% of avocado bearing soils in these counties are in drainage groups C and D.  Of these, the Cieneba series is the most common avocado bearing soil with moderate expected yields under irrigation (Table 5).  The Cieneba series accounts for approximately 37% of avocado bearing soil acreage (USDA, 2006).  Cieneba soils are thermic, shallow Typic Xerorthents located on uplands with slopes of 9 to 85 percent (USDA, 1999b).  Location and metfile selections are often the most important developments affecting scenario vulnerability and protectiveness.  Because this scenario is intended to represent avocado production along the southern coastal area of California, the metfile closest to the center of the primary avocado producing county (San Diego) was chosen.  The Cieneba soil series was selected for this scenario because it is both representative of avocado bearing soils (Oster, 2006), is predominant in San Diego County as well as central and southern California, represents the majority (44%) of avocado soils in drainage, the fourth most erosive soil type, and is among the steeper sloped avocado bearing soils (Table 5).

Cieneba is a Hydrologic Group C soil, which represents the majority (44%) of these soils in drainage.  Cieneba soils have a USLE K factor of ranging from 0.24-0.32; approximately 82% of avocado bearing soils have a USLE K factor between 0.24 and 0.32 (Table 5). Approximately 10% of avocado bearing soils have a pH lower than Cieneba soils (5.8 - 6.5), although soil pH is not currently a PRZM input parameter and is not expected to often affect chemical fate in the acidic range.  Based on the official soil series description, Ceineba soils have an A horizon from 0 to 10 inches (0-25 cm) deep and a C horizon from 10 to over 30 inches (25-76 cm) deep, however the C horizon is primarily weathered granitic material with remnant rock structure.  (USDA, 2006).  Cieneba coarse sandy loam was used to parameterize this scenario (USDA 2005). 

The Met station chosen was the San Diego station (23188.dvf) located at 32º 44' N, 117º 10' W and at an elevation of approximately 4 meters above sea level.  This station receives an average of approximately 25.2 cm of rainfall annually.  The station is the closest available station to this scenario with data necessary for PRZM.

Figure 1.  2002 harvested acres for avocados based on USDA Census of Agriculture for California and conterminous United States (inset)  Estimates do not include data for individual farms which NASS has excluded to protect the identify of individual farms. 

Works Cited

EPA.  1998.  Carsel, R.F., J.C. Imhoff, P.R. Hummel, J.M. Cheplick, and A.S. Donigian, Jr.  PRZM-3, A Model for Predicting Pesticide and Nitrogen Fate in the Crop Root and Unsaturated Soil Zones: Users Manual for Release 3.0.  National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Athens, GA.

EPA.  1999.  Jones, R.D., J. Breithaupt, J. Carleton, L. Libelo, J. Lin, R. Matzner, and R. Parker.  Guidance for Use of the Index Reservoir in Drinking Water Exposure Assessments. Environmental Fate and Effects Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.

EPA.  2004.  Abel, S.A.  Procedure for Conducting Quality Assurance and Quality Control of Existing and New PRZM Field and Orchard Crop Standard Scenarios.  Environmental Fate and Effects Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.

EPA. 2005. Irrigation Guidance for developing PRZM Scenarios. June 15, 2005.

Oster JD, Arpaia ML.  2006. Effects of salinity and applied water on yields of 'Hass' avocado on Mexican seedling rootstock. Seminario: Manejo del riego y suelo en el cultivo del palto. 27-28 de Septiembre de 2006. 14 pages.

USDA.  1990.  Davis, F.M., R.A. Leonard, W.G. Knisel.  GLEAMS User Manual, Version 1.8.55.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory, Tifton, GA.  SEWRL-030190FMD.

USDA.  1999a.  Crop Profile for Avocados in California.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pest Management Centers.  July 1999.  Online at: http://www.ipmcenters.org/cropprofiles/caavocados.html

USDA.  1999b.  Official Series Description – CIENEBA Series.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  May 1999.  Online at: http://ortho.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/osd/dat/C/CIENEBA.html.

USDA.  2000.  Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) EPA Pesticide Project.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

USDA.  2002.  2002 Census of Agriculture.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).  Online at: http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/census02/preliminary/2002censusdates.htm.

USDA.  2006.  Soil Survey Areas of San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Soil Data Mart.  March 1, 2006.  Online at: http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov.