Baika Colombia invests in assisted pollination across 450 hectares

In 2026, Baika Colombia launched an assisted pollination program with Biopollen, a pollination technology specialist linked to San José Farms, to increase fruit set and improve productivity in its Colombian Hass avocado orchards. The strategy involves pollen applications across 450 hectares on different company farms.

Ricardo Botero, Production Manager at Baika Colombia, explained that implementing this technology reflects the need to continue finding tools to increase yields in Colombian orchards. He noted that despite progress through pollinizer varieties and beekeeping, the country has yet to reach expected productivity levels.

The agreement signed in January 2026 covers both technology transfer and access to high-quality pollen for direct application to the crop. The company notes that Biopollen already has successful experience in several countries, which encouraged the joint development of this program in Colombia.

Training, monitoring and adaptation in the field

Implementing the system involved extensive technical work on Baika Colombia's farms. One of the main challenges was identifying flowers at the optimal stage to extract high-quality pollen and timing applications correctly.

To achieve this, Biopollen teams worked directly alongside Baika Colombia staff on training, monitoring and process verification. The company explained that they developed new internal skills in identifying female-stage flowers and understanding that flower opening does not always occur at fixed times, but depends on climatic and physiological variables.

In total, between 25 and 30 people participated in application and monitoring activities across the different farms. This season's weather added complexity because of rainfall and low solar radiation during flowering.

Work began on January 24 at Génova, the farm responsible for pollen production, preservation and inventory control. Workers from Salamina were subsequently trained at the same property to replicate the system on other company farms.

Application schedules followed the natural dynamics of flowering. Lower-altitude farms flowered first and were treated before mid- and high-altitude properties. The strategy involved three applications per block, approximately one week apart, to reach as many female-stage flowers as possible.

Baika Colombia also had to adapt refrigeration systems to maintain the pollen cold chain and preserve its viability throughout the process.

Drones and manual applications to measure results

The company is currently using both drones and backpack sprayers to apply pollen in the field. Drone applications follow technical parameters defined by Biopollen, including droplet size, flight height, speed and canopy wetting level.

For manual applications, operators received specific training in application distance and selecting suitable nozzles for pollen handling.

Using both methods aims to compare which delivers better fruit-set results. However, the company acknowledges that drones offer significant advantages in Colombia because of the challenging terrain on many of its farms, allowing faster, more efficient applications.

So far, Baika Colombia has completed approximately 95% of scheduled applications and has already observed substantial progress in fruit set, particularly in low- and mid-altitude blocks where development is more advanced.