A tree of the new avocado variety is at least five times more productive than Hass: Green Motion Avocados introduces “Luna” in Chile

José María Fontán del Junco, Innovation Director at Spanish company Eurosemillas S.A., visited Chile some time ago to announce Grupo Hijuelas’ incorporation into Green Motion Avocados, an international platform founded in 2020 to bring together members and promote significant advances in the production of high-quality, efficient avocados, from genetics all the way to the orchard.

“We can say that Green Motion Avocados is a medium-term project for the future,” Fontán said during his visit, “but it also has very concrete realities today, such as Luna,” referring to this avocado variety developed by UC Riverside and recognized by TIME magazine in the United States as one of the agricultural inventions of 2023.

Exponential productivity

Luna is a Type B flowering cultivar characterized by black, rough-skinned fruit, similar to the Hass variety. However, according to the expert, Luna trees offer several advantages over Hass.

According to data from the University of California, Riverside, Luna trees are five to seven times more productive than Hass.

“This is something we have been able to confirm in experimental plots and now in the first commercial orchards, both in California and in several European countries. We are now beginning to introduce this variety in different markets,” Fontán explained.

“Luna is already a concrete reality today,” he added. “It is a Type B flowering variety that can be used as a pollinizer for Hass, as well as a new standalone variety for the market. Its fruit is of high quality, comparable to Hass, while the tree itself is more compact and efficient.”

Luna also offers an advantage in terms of harvest timing, as it is harvested slightly later than Hass, approximately 15 to 20 days afterward.

“This makes it an interesting option for growers.”

Grupo Hijuelas’ incorporation into Green Motion Avocados will allow growers to access innovations of this kind for their avocado orchards.

“We believe this variety has the potential to revolutionize the way avocados are produced, offering consumers high-quality fruit while giving growers an extremely productive alternative for their orchards,” concluded Juan Ignacio Goycoolea Sone, CEO of Grupo Hijuelas.

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