Avocado consumption is surging across India, transforming a crop that was once widely dismissed as animal fodder into a lucrative commercial enterprise. Agricultural producers and industry advocates are rushing to capitalize on the widening gap between domestic availability and consumer appetite.

Roughly fifteen years ago, local markets for the fruit were virtually nonexistent. Sunil Bopaiah, group manager at Cottanad Plantations in the southern state of Kerala, recalls that ripe fruit regularly dropped from trees and was consumed only by stray dogs, leading locals to refer to the produce as dog fruit.

Mr. Bopaiah notes that avocados were originally planted simply to provide shade for coffee crops rather than as a primary source of income. A major shift occurred around 2011 when a prominent Bollywood celebrity publicly praised the fruit for its skincare benefits, sending market prices surging overnight.

To meet the rising appetite, Cottanad Plantations has dedicated forty acres to cultivation and harvested up to fifteen tonnes last year. The operation has adopted advanced cultivation techniques learned from South African specialists, utilizing raised beds and altered spacing to protect delicate root systems from disease.

Despite domestic growth, a substantial deficit remains in the national market. Manilal Palliyath, an industry promoter, points out that India imports approximately fifteen thousand tonnes annually while domestic output hovers around nine thousand tonnes. This shortfall provides a compelling opportunity for growers, especially as traditional regional commodities like pepper and coffee face increasing pressure from shifting weather patterns.

The culinary sector has embraced the trend, though commercial kitchens often lean toward foreign imports. Hussain Shahzad, executive chef at a Mumbai-based hospitality group, explains that imported varieties currently deliver the reliable texture, size, and ripening profile that restaurant kitchens require. Even so, chefs express a strong desire to transition toward domestic sourcing as local farming practices mature.

Entrepreneurs are actively working to bridge this quality gap by introducing globally recognized cultivars to local growers. Harshit Godha established a specialized nursery business in Bhopal after studying agricultural methods in Israel, which is renowned for its advanced desert farming technology. Over the past five years, the nursery has distributed thousands of international saplings, including the popular Hass and Pinkerton varieties, to agriculturalists nationwide.

Transitioning to commercial-scale production requires modern methods that depart significantly from historical practices. Rather than growing trees from basic seeds, contemporary orchards rely on specialized grafting techniques that combine resilient local rootstocks with high-yielding upper varieties, positioning the nation's agricultural sector to claim a larger share of a booming market.

Reporting based on coverage first published by BBC News. Read the original report at BBC News.