This Karnataka farmer clocks Rs 50 lakh per acre from avocado nursery business

Harshith BS worked as an accountant with a private firm in Mysuru, Karnataka, when COVID-19 hit. With normalcy not in sight anytime soon, he quit his job and began searching online for businesses that could be started on a small scale at home.

He came across the thriving business of exotic fruits like avocado, rambutan, logan and others, which are profitable for farmers as well as traders. “However, since I had graduated in commerce and did not have any background in farming, I decided to pursue a Diploma in Agriculture to understand the sector better,” Harshith tells 30Stades.

When lockdown restrictions were eased, he visited the IIHR (Indian Institute of Horticultural Research) in Hesaraghatta, near Bengaluru, to learn about new-age farming opportunities. “I did not have much space, and I wanted to start farming-related work because even at the peak of COVID, agriculture was among functional sectors,” says 30-year-old Harshith.

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What makes avocado a profitable crop

At IIHR, he learned about avocado farming and how the crop was gaining prominence across India. Avocado, a tropical fruit, retails upwards of Rs100 per piece in India. A rich source of antioxidants and monounsaturated fats, avocado’s pulp is high in proteins (up to 4 percent) and fat (up to 30 percent) but low in carbohydrates. This leads to high demand from health-conscious consumers, hotels, restaurants and gyms.

According to World Bank trade data, India imported 39 lakh kg of avocados, mostly from Tanzania, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, and Australia, in 2023. 

This shows the high potential of avocado farming and trading in India.

Since Harshith had only about 2,000 sq ft of space, he decided to start a nursery of avocado plants. He learned grafting, where the roots of one plant (called rootstock) and the shoot (or sapling) from the scion plant (the variety to be grown) are joined to make a sapling. 

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Roots of success

“I procured the rootstock and scion from Coorg, where an unnamed American missionary brought the avocado plants about a hundred years back,” Harshith says.

In 2020, he prepared 10,000 avocado saplings with an investment of around Rs 4 lakh in buying the scions, stocks and other material. 

“Grafting is done manually. I sold the saplings to farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra at Rs 100 per plant, clocking a turnover of Rs 10 lakh. My profit was Rs 5 lakh from the nursery business. There has been no looking back since then,” he says.

At his one-acre polyhouse nursery in Periyapatna in Mysuru, he currently sells avocado saplings of eight varieties – three Indian varieties (Green Bulb, Purple Bulb and Russell), premium Mexican varieties Hass, Pinkerton, and Ettinger, which command higher rates due to longer shelf life and the varieties released by IIHR - Arka Supreme and Arka Coorg Ravi.

While avocado is a thirsty plant, IIHR’s Arka Supreme flourishes well in regions with high temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius and low rainfall. This makes the variety good for farmers in drier areas like central Maharashtra.

The Indian varieties sell at up to Rs150 per kg in the wholesale market and Rs250 per kg in the retail market. They have a shelf life of about five days. 

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The Mexican Hass variety is in high demand with a shelf life of 15 to 20 days. “It is export quality and requires a temperature under 40 degrees Celsius. At higher temperatures, the plants require 10 to 20 percent shade. This variety sells at Rs 250 to 300 per kg in the wholesale market and retails at Rs 300 to 500 per kg depending on the season,” Harshith explains.

Expansion and growth

After the initial success in 2020, Harshith saw a rising demand for avocado plants. In 2021, he sold 20,000 saplings, and in 2024, the sale was 50,000 plants. “I take orders for saplings six months in advance,” he points out.

“I have expanded to a one-acre nursery and prepare my scions from seeds. It takes around two months for a seed to turn into a scion. In four months after grafting, the sapling is ready for plantation. So, six months are required from seed to sapling plantation stage,” he points out.

In 2024, he prepared 50,000 avocado saplings. From less than an acre, he earned a turnover of Rs50 lakh and a profit of Rs25 lakh last year.

“There is a 50 percent profit margin. I sold the saplings to farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, the Northeastern states and Maharashtra. Government agencies also buy from me for giving saplings to farmers,” he says.

“This year, the purchases have just started, and I am preparing 1 lakh plants,” says Harshith, who has hired 12 people at the nursery.

The best time to plant avocados is from June to December. Janardhan, a farmer from Solapur in Maharashtra, purchased 200 saplings from Harshith in 2021. “I purchased 100 saplings of Arka Supreme and another 100 of the Hass variety. This is the fourth year, and each tree yields around 100 kg of avocados annually,” the agripreneur says.

Avocado plants in India thrive in well-draining, fertile soil with a slightly acidic pH (6-7.5). The soil should be rich in organic matter and must have a good water retention capacity, he says.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai-based journalist specialising in financial, business and socio-economic reporting)

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