A lawyer for the Carros farm, west of Nice.

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E. Martin / ANP / 20 Minutes

  • The consumption of avocados has been increasing in Europe for several years.

  • The climate and soils of the Côte d'Azur are ideal for the production of this fruit.

  • A tree can produce nearly 800 avocados per season.

In recent years, he has become the star of social networks.

Mashed on toast, in guacamole or in salads, avocado is also widely criticized for its intensive production in Mexico.

But the people of the French Riviera can enjoy it locally, without traveling more than 10,000 km.

In Menton or Carros, west of Nice, producers are proving that responsible consumption is possible.

“Thirty-five years ago, my brother gave me the nucleus of an avocado that he bought in a supermarket,” remembers Josiane Pancioni, market gardener in Carros.

“I was curious what it could be like and I planted it.

I didn't believe it at all, but I've been harvesting between 800 and 1,000 avocados per season for about fifteen years now ”.

"My avocado tree only drinks rain water"

“There are a lot of requests.

Among my clients, those who consume a lot are vegetarians for example.

They like the fact that it is in a short circuit but above all, they know how it is cultivated ”.

The environmental impact is important when it comes to avocado production.

For the Carrossoise, that's not a problem.

“Everything I grow is organic.

And when it comes to the excessive consumption of water from avocado trees, I don't feel concerned.

Mine, I do not water it.

He only drinks rainwater.

I maintain it like an olive tree, by pruning it ”.

She adds: “Our climate is similar to that of California, temperate and especially not frost.

Further north in France, production is impossible for this reason.

If it freezes, the avocados turn black and fall ”.

You should know that the fruits are not yet ripe, from November to February.

Josiane Pancioni the 2.50 euros each.

One euro more than in supermarkets, but "excellent", "quite big" and this does not prevent it from being often out of stock.

However, she decided to keep only one tree because “it takes a lot of space”.

A wild avocado tree can grow up to twenty meters.

It will therefore not expand its production.

Production possible thanks to a sloping ground

This is not the case with Laurent Gannac's operation in Menton.

The farmer has already had four avocado trees for twenty years and plans to plant ten more.

“Local culture is nothing new,” he says.

In Menton, we are lucky to have fairly steep soils which allow us to avoid certain problems such as the development of fungi, this was the case for crops in Corsica [the island produces ten tonnes of avocados per year ].

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To take advantage of its lawyers, the Mentonnais has set up an online store.

“You only harvest if the fruit is sold and then shipped and within 24 hours it is at the customer's place.

You will then have to wait a few days before consuming it ”.

At 2.90 euros each, Laurent Gannac promises a taste experience that is truly different from Central American products with a very "creamy and generous fruit thanks to a fairly small stone", for the "fuerte" variety for example.

Even if the climate is ideal in the Alpes-Maritimes, the productions remain rather small.

But according to the chamber of agriculture of the department, this trend is likely to change: “Lately, many project leaders [young farmers not yet installed who are working on their farming project], tell us they want to start a avocado production.

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