SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The 2009 avocado crop may yield the lightest harvest in 20 years, according to a report released yesterday by the California Farm Bureau Federation. Several factors were cited, including a hard freeze in January 2007, wildfires that damaged California avocado groves later that year, water restrictions, poor pollination, pest infestations, and avocado trees’ tendency to alternate between heavy and light crops year to year. Separately, agriculture officials in Florida are concerned that an ambrosia beetle infestation could significantly damage their state’s $30 million avocado crop in the coming months.
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