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How Much Water Does It Take to Grow an Avocado? (With Comparison Chart)
Shea Cummings
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There’s no denying the popularity of avocados. After all, they’re an incredibly healthy food and add a nice creamy touch to many different meals. However, their eco-friendliness is not so straightforward, considering it takes an average of 63 gallons of water to grow just over 2 pounds of avocados under normal conditions.
Worse than that, in more arid climates like Chile or Mexico, where many avocados are grown and imported from, it can take up to 85 gallons of water to produce a single avocado!
To put this into perspective, the average American uses 2.1 gallons of water per minute in their shower. So, if you were to waste one avocado grown in Chile, that’s the equivalent of running the shower for nearly an hour with no one in it.
Why Do Avocados Take So Much Water?
The primary reason avocados need so much water is because of their root systems. They have shallow roots that don’t go much deeper than 6–8 inches. As a result, they cannot search deeper in the soil to find water that hasn’t dried up. And if the soil drains quickly, this leaves them little opportunity to absorb the water they need.
In addition, this makes them susceptible to drowning if the soil they’re in does not drain properly. So, there is a delicate balance between too much water and not enough when watering the trees.
Photo Credit By: Piqsels
Avocado Water Needs Compared to Other Fruits and Veggies?
This chart helps put the water needs of avocados compared to other fruits and vegetables we consume regularly.
Plant
Average Water Needs
Avocado
63–85 gallons
Tomato
22 gallons
Apple
83 gallons
Carrots (1 pound)
23 gallons
Lettuce
15 gallons
Cucumbers
28 gallons
Oranges
55 gallons
Mangos
190 gallons
Corn
107 gallons
You’ll notice that some of these plants take significantly more water than avocados. Typically, these don’t grow in areas where water shortages are a problem. For example, mangos grow in tropical climates with plenty of rainfall to prevent water shortages for other farmers, so the fact that they need so much water isn’t as big a deal.
The Problem with Avocado Water Use
The issue arises with watering avocados because of where the water comes from. In countries like Chile or Mexico, where the demand for water to grow avocados is even higher than average, there is not a significant amount of rainfall to offset the water usage. This leads to everyday folks and small farmers suffering from water shortages.
Here are a few ways that excessive watering is affecting people in these countries:
Many people are rationed to a barely liveable amount of water.
Other farmers can’t grow crops or raise animals.
Local ecosystems are being destroyed.
People who are advocating for saving water are receiving death threats because they are interfering with business.
Conclusion
We’re not saying to stop eating avocados; they are delicious and nutritious. However, these things are worth knowing so that we can pay attention to where our food is coming from and do our best to support growers who are doing so safely and ethically. In addition, having this knowledge may encourage us to make extra effort to ensure food isn’t going to waste, especially avocados.
Featured Image Credit: marketacerna.com, Shutterstock
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Writer
Shea Cummings
Shea Cummings is a passionate content writer who believes that the power of words is immeasurable. He leverages years of experience in various trades such as carpentry, cabinetry, and electrical to bring boring DIY guides to life. His goal is to provide his readers with information that informs and delights. When he's not writing for Home Grail or publishing on Medium, you can find him spending time in the outdoors or playing some Minecraft on the Xbox with his wife and two sons.
Shea Cummings
