Avocado in Montargil: the Atlantrees story

Atlantrees is one of the most recent investments in avocado in Portugal. Ido Levine, the company's general manager, explains why the country was chosen to grow this subtropical fruit.

Why Portugal

«For us, Portugal was a combination of several factors, mainly because it is in Europe and part of the European Union, since our main market is Europe. Then there is land available in the country, water and the ideal climate for growing avocados. On top of that, we can take advantage of the winter, when avocados reach higher prices on the European market», says Ido Levine.

50 hectares in Montargil

On the farm, in Montargil, in the municipality of Ponte de Sor, 50 hectares of avocado were planted, mainly the Hass variety, but also Lamb Hass and Maluma Hass. The irrigation work was carried out by Magos Irrigation Systems, which installed the whole irrigation system.

«It was very fast, efficient and well coordinated, as we were working to a tight schedule that also included other teams in the field. It was a very professional job», says Ido Levine.

A demanding project

The design was carried out by Sysmart and followed by Guilherme Vidigal, an agronomist in the Magos design office, who remembers it as one of the jobs that stayed with him: «I really enjoyed following it because it was a challenge. Avocado was not a common crop in the area, and the crop relied heavily on a frost-protection sprinkler system. On top of that, the farm had three different water sources, the Montargil stream, the reservoir and a pond fed by the irrigators' canal, and all of these had to be taken into account».

Working with Magos

«We were very satisfied with Magos and the work done on our farm, from the management team to the technicians. They took our needs into account and always gave us the support we needed. We only have good things to say about our collaboration with Magos», says the general manager.