Next season’s avocado crop has already been extensively damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle, say Northland growers.

Maungatapere avocado grower Mike Eagles said next year’s avocado harvest was “already hopeless” because of the damage the fruit and trees had sustained from rain and wind.

His ten-hectare orchard was already “absolutely hammered” by Monday morning, with rain gauges overflowing a day before the worst of the cyclone was expected, Eagles said.

He found branches torn from trees, small trees uprooted and fruit that would have been harvested in August for next season’s crop scattered on the ground, he said.

That amount of fruit loss would have a significant impact on the income from the orchard, Eagles said.

Fruit would be downgraded to lower quality grades, he said.

Avocado fruit is graded on three levels. The best quality fruit is exported and earns about $13 or more per tray. Fruit consumed locally earns about $5 per tray, and the lowest grades of avocado are processed into avocado oil, paying much less, Eagles said.

Eagles said in a good year about 80% of his fruit would be exported but last year only about 40% was exported because of another severe storm. He expected even less fruit would be good for export after Cyclone Gabrielle.

The wind and rain began on the east side of the farm, but later swung around and came from the south, and as a result the orchard received damage from all sides, he said.

Other fruit growers also felt the impact of cyclone Gabrielle.

General manager for diversified crops at fruit seller, packer and marketing company T&G Fresh Rob Fisher said the priority was keeping the team safe.

Damage to citrus crops would only be determined after the cyclone passed, he said.

There would also be a loss of blueberries after small sections of blueberry tunnels were dislodged because soils were extremely wet, he said.

It was too soon to say what the full impact would be, he said.

Gary Cliff is also from Maungatapere, where he grows 50 hectares of avocado. When he inspected his orchard on Monday morning he found some trees were completely dislodged.

There were also a lot of fruit on the ground, he said.

Constant rain this year had already caused tree health issues, and he expected it to get worse after the cyclone. A lot of the fruit left on trees would be damaged, although it took a week for fruit to show scars, and he could not determine the extent of the damage yet, he said.

The damaged fruit would only be harvested in August, he said.

Most fruit would have been damaged so much that it could not be exported.

A cold spring last year meant a lot of the trees carried their fruit higher, which had exposed it to the effects of the storm more, Cliff said.

In order for a grower to pay back what they spent on growing, and make some profit, they needed to be able to have a large portion of export-quality fruit, he said.

Although such extensive damage was bad for growers, it would benefit local consumers as there could be plenty of fruit available on the local market, he said, which could push down prices.

Source - https://www.stuff.co.nz