Colombia secured its presence at the Super Bowl with more than a thousand tons of avocado

Participants in the final of the National Football LeagueNFL, will not only enjoy the games of the strategist Patrick Mahomes, or Rihanna’s halftime show; but also, they will have the possibility of accompanying their meals with the 1,432 tonnes of Hass avocado Colombian, exported mainly for sporting event.

This was confirmed by The Minister of Agriculture who assured that Colombia has exported 1,432 tons of fruit since January 15. According to information shared by the portfolio, the fruits come from plantation fields in departments such as Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda, Tolima and Valle del Cauca.

“American football fans will taste a delicacy of 26,427 hectares tonight from the fields of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda, Tolima and Valle del Cauca, departments with the greatest export production of Hass avocados,” said the The Minister of Agriculture.

The Ministry also indicated that, although Colombian fruit exports recorded a drop of 37%Due to competition with countries like Mexico, Colombia still maintains a significant presence in the North American market.

According to the Public Ministry, the export of Hass avocados generates approximately 64,200 direct and indirect jobs in Colombia.

Despite the positive news about export problems and the jobs generated by the plantation of avocado trees in Colombia, cases of illegal water collection, contamination of water sources or illegal logging have also been reported.

The complaint was filed by Autonomous Corporation of Quindíothe entity in charge of supervising the conservation of the environment in the department, and after having learned of the changes that have taken place in the plantation of avocados in municipalities such as Pijao, decided to accuse the avocado producers.

According to Mónica Flórez, environmental activist and director of the NGO Pijao Cittaslow, the arrival of Chilean, Mexican and Peruvian multinationals in the municipality of Pijao in 2017 began to affect the type of plantation that was done in the municipality, mainly coffee. , and has greatly negatively affected the environment of the region.

One of these changes is reflected in the affectations that have occurred in the Chilí páramo, where the wax palm grows, a species of flora native to the Andes and in danger of extinction, which is being reduced little by little by the extension of the avocado plantation.

In the lands of Pijao, the so-called “green gold” after the fall in the price of coffee, which generated that the cultivated hectares of the fruit exceeded 789.

When the plantation of avocados began, the foreign companies that arrived in the country were unaware of the regulations on environmental issues, as assured by Diego Aristizábal. RTVCwho added that these companies are currently meeting all planting parameters.

In 2021, Colombia exported around 97,000 tons of avocados and had planted some 55,000 hectares, which placed it in third place among fruit producers internationally, behind Mexico and Chile.

And although President Gustavo Petro assures that “avocados are more important than oil”, the indiscriminate planting of the fruit worries the country’s environmentalists who warn of the contamination of water sources.

Other alerts raised by environmentalists on the issue of avocado plantations in Colombia are, for example, the invasion of protected areas by companies and growers of the fruit; so, the land grabbing peasants who end up selling their properties.

Despite the complaints that have been raised about the plantation of avocados in Colombia, according to statistics from ProColombia and the DANISHbetween 2021 and 2022, there are records of Hass avocado exports for over $41 million.