Major avocado races are, Mexican , Guatemalan and West Indian . Hass variety is Guatemalan - Mexican cross hybrid at maturity fruits being purple in color and medium in size .
In India, presently, there is no commercial nursery engaged in vegetative propagation of avocado .
Govt FRS (TN & WB ) released some avocado varieties keeping tropical Southern India and humid sub-tropical North east agro climatic conditions in mind , mostly improved varieties of West Indian and Sri Lankan hybrids e.g. Long, Round, Fuerte, Pollock, Peradeniya Purple Hybrid, Shambaganur and Trapp
Agro climatic conditions of Sikkim is suitable for hybrid “Hass” cultivar and all other three race varieties , but in TN & Karnataka only west indian varieties are suitable due to warmer region and soil salinity.
Handful of Indian agro entrepreauners started commercial large scale avocado orchards in South India , Kerala , North east , MP etc. with imported customized rootstock “Hass “ grafts suitable for dry or humid sub –tropical weather conditions .
Tentative landing cost for imported custom root stock “Hass” avocado graft is Rs 1200-1500 each before pandemic .
Now it’s almost impossible to import live plants from abroad .
In Sikkim, all the avocado trees grown from seeds .
The seeds taken from mature fruits are sown directly in the nursery or in polyethylene bag , when 6-8 months old, the seedlings are transplant .
Such seedling trees at 10-15 years produce 300 to 400 fruits .
