After four years assessing the variety and its behaviour, the first plantations were made in 2015, and in 2019 significant amounts of Maluma started to be produced.
“In 2010 we brought the first trees, and now we have multiplied to having around 128,500 trees and we have developed around 330 hectares. 90% of these trees have been planted in Spain; 5% in Portugal and 2.5% in France and Italy. Morocco has around 100 hectares planted,” according to Rubén Blanco, from Viveros Blanco, the distributing company of the trees.
It is worth mentioning that, of all the trees planted in Spain, 50% are concentrated in the Valencian Community. “The Maluma variety has the advantage that it starts to be harvested in mid-October, almost a month before Hass, at the end of the campaign in Chile, obtaining a high price as it is the first Hass-type fruit to reach the market.”
In Valencia, years ago many Lamb Hass trees were planted, which offered a much later window, but that competed on the market with the start of the Peruvian season. For this reason, Maluma is the variety being chosen for the new plantations. Additionally, as is happening in Peru, its lower vegetative stamina allows easier handling of the plantation, with less pruning and with an average productivity of between 15,000 and 20,000 kilos per hectare, with medium-large calibres.
It is undeniable that on such a competitive market as that of the avocado, in which the seasons are very clearly defined, the variety choice is a determining factor to obtain the right results, and Maluma has many factors in its favour to help these results to be reached. “The demand for Maluma has been growing year by year, to the point that, of all the plants produced in our nursery, 40% are now grafted with Maluma,” Blanco concludes.
From the moment when Maluma was registered as a variety in 2004, it managed to make its own space both in Peru and in Spain, where it its growth is foreseen to continue thanks to its differentiating characteristics.
In Latin America, the largest Maluma plantations are in Peru, where there are around 500-600 hectares. In Peru, the Maluma plant has been shown to be earlier; its first important harvest takes place in its second year after planting.
In the northern region, it can overtake the Hass variety by up to 2 months, an advantage that is meaning forecasts of new Maluma developments in this region of the country. Another of its competitive advantages is that Maluma has very little rotation and, on average, its fruit has two calibres more than Hass, which could compensate for the smaller size of the fruit produced in the region north of Piura.
