By Herbert Musoke
A trailer carrying a 40-foot container leaving Balaji Agro Industries premises carried hope and expectations for avocado farmers countrywide, as it started its long journey from Butalangu, Nakaseke district to the port of Mombasa – about 1,200km away.
This was the sixth container carrying 24,000 litres of crude Hass avocado oil dispatched from Balaji Agro Industries to Europe. The second consignment was heading to Italy, and the fourth to France.
Khadija Nakakande, the head of communication and public relations at the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) secretariat explains that, currently, Uganda has five avocado processing factories that produce crude oil mainly for the export market.
She says that the bigger market for Hass avocado fruits is export.
“The export market for the fruits takes only grade one fruits which must be medium-sized, not very mature, must have fine skin and without any spot. A kilogram of grade one fruits goes for sh2,500 and sh3,000,” she says adding that, this has been causing losses to farmers as the second-grade fruits would be left in the garden to rot.
However, Nakakande says factories are now buying fruits without selection and that a kilogram goes for sh500 and sh1,000.
Nakakande says that Hass avocado is worth an investment for everyone who thinks of farming as a business, especially those with idle land.
“It is a less risky venture, especially to theft, it is of low maintenance cost and has a ready market for both local and international,” she states.
Hass avocado contains 10%-11% oil, while local varieties contain 3%. A well-managed hass avocado tree will give you 70% of grade one fruits, a kilogram selling between sh2,500 and sh3,000 and the 30% will be grade two fruits which the processing factories will buy at sh500 to sh1,000 per kilogram. A kilogram of local varieties goes for sh300.
