In recent years, the avocado industry has experienced significant growth, with both local and international markets falling in love with the humble avo.

Last month, the avocado industry was tipped to double, thanks to ongoing excellent harvests.

To put a finer point on it, between April 2021 and March 2022 alone, over 23.5 million trays were dispatched, with the majority hailing from Western Australia and Queensland.

This is great news for avocado farmers, but of course the challenge is to keep harvest productivity high.

Galaxy Group is Australia and NZ’s premier harvesting equipment supplier, responsible for supplying and maintaining the innovative Tecnofruit system.

Let’s take a look at avocado harvesting in more detail and how the Tecnofruit system can uniquely increase avocado harvesting productivity and safety.

Basics of Avocado Harvesting

Avocado harvesting has to be undertaken with a great amount of care in order to avoid bruising and damaging the fruit. Not only is damaged fruit less enjoyable to eat, it also holds less sale value, which can seriously impact your orchard bottom line.

When picking, gloves should be worn to ensure that fingernails don’t damage the skin and a 10-15mm stale should be left on the fruit.

Ladders are frequently used to pick avocados, as height on the tree enables pickers to find all the fruit and better produce a large harvest. However, ladders are cumbersome and can be unstable, so there are inherent safety risks to this approach.

Once harvested, avocados should be stored in groups of 10 to 15 in clean picking bags.

Avocado Harvesting Productivity and Risks

Avocado harvesting comes with many safety risks for pickers and difficulties for orchard keepers alike.

For pickers, challenges relating to exposure to both cold and heat, as well as the risk of falling from ladders, and the muscle strains and injuries associated with repeated picking, are among the most common risks. Pickers often suffer from stress and fatigue as well, which in turn results in less care being taken with picking and handling of your fruit.

For orchardists, the main challenge is maintaining high productivity, while ensuring that pickers are safe and comfortable. However, productivity and safety are directly threatened by fruit picking shortages, which in recent months has only been worsened by the global pandemic and travel restrictions.

Tecnofruit Harvesters Improve Avocado Harvesting and Safety

The Tecnofruit system is one of the most productive harvester machines world-wide, enabling fruit farmers to produce greater yields with a smaller number of pickers.

The Tecnofruit is compact and maneuverable, well suited to moving between avocado fruit trees. Importantly, the Tecnofruit has adjustable platforms, so pickers can be safely positioned at different heights, without the risks associated with ladders. Pickers can then easily access the entire tree, and handle each fruit much more carefully and with far greater comfort.

The Technofruit is also more attractive for pickers of all ages because it makes the job easier by doing away with ladders and heavy picking baskets.

As many as six pickers can work comfortably at the same time without getting in each other’s way and in compliance with the highest ergonomic standards.

As a result of the Tecnofruit’s intelligent design, pickers are less tired during the harvest and able to be both more careful and more productive.

Your Best Harvest Awaits

Contact Galaxy Group for the best avocado harvesters available on the market