Avocado farming rises as citrus-making Japan city eyes global warming

Fuminori Arita once farmed "iyokan," a Japanese citrus variety, but about 10 years ago he switched to growing avocados, reveling in the challenge of producing crops of what he describes as a "sensitive and difficult to grow" fruit.The 67-year-old is symbolic of efforts by the western Japanese city of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture, long known primarily for citrus cultivation, to shift more to avocados, partly as a strategy to adapt to rising temperatures amid global warming.Given the challenge of cultivating avocados, the "joy of success is huge," said Arita, who started with seedlings he ac…READ FULL ARTICLE