Environmental authorities in the Mexican state of Michoacan, heart of the nation’s avocado industry and a global export hub for the product, confirmed on Sunday the presence of avocado seed weevil among large volumes of avocados due for international export.
The presence of the larvae prompted authorities to detain shipments and forced producers to discard large amounts of avocados.
Local avocado producers from the avocado-producing states of Michoacan, Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit destroyed up to 52 tons of avocados during the weekend, according to local media.
Health agency SENASICA supported the discarding of the avocados.
A video shared on social media showed local producers emptying truckloads of avocados and dumping crates into pits to be burned and buried, as required by pest-elimination protocols.
“Producers want to prevent their crops from being plagued,” Michoacan’s Environment Minister Alejandro Mendez told Reuters, confirming the pest.
The weevil bores into the branches and trunks of avocado trees as well as into the seed within the fruit, damaging produce. It can also spread very aggressively within an orchard and devastate crops if not addressed.
Mendez said that the avocados believed to be contaminated with the weevil have not been introduced to the market.
Local authorities did not provide an estimate of the economic impact caused by the loss of produce.
Mexico is the world’s top avocado producer and exporter. Michoacan is the country’s leading avocado-producing state and a vital supplier to the U.S. market.
(Reporting by Iñigo Alexander; Editing by Will Dunham)
