The Production Manager (Avocado) at Simba Farm is tasked with the comprehensive oversight and hands-on management of all avocado production activities, ensuring high yield, optimal quality, and strict adherence to international agricultural audit standards. This role requires deep agricultural knowledge of avocado crop husbandry specific to East African seasons.
Tasks and Responsibilities
- Plant Health and Hygiene: Responsible for general plant hygiene and health, observing and monitoring plant health for signs of stress, disease, or pest incursion.
- Crop Management: Implementing plant nutrition and pest control activities as agreed with your immediate senior manager. Assist the agronomy team to ensure that pest control is well managed, keeping all pests and diseases below threshold.
- Orchard Operations: Manage the day-to-day operations of the orchard, including nursery management, transplanting, irrigation, fertilizer application, pest management, and harvesting.
- Irrigation Management: Monitor irrigation and schedule irrigation based on crop requirements and stages of production.
- Quality Control: Ensure quality control and proper handling of harvested fruits.
- Orchard Development: Adhere to a robust avocado gap-filling/infilling program aimed at maintaining a uniform stand of trees across the orchard.
- Crop Modeling: Establish an avocado crop model to monitor the phenological growth stages throughout the season.
- Propagation & Grafting: Source for Avocado scions for grafting from a reputable source. Plan and forecast Avocado seedling grafting and delivery as per the seasonal demands.
- Training & Labor Management: Ensure that all labour in the section is effective and efficient and that all staff achieve the recommended daily tasks. Train staff in new techniques and methodologies like propping, pruning, harvesting, weeding, mulching, field drainage, organic farming, grafting, and all other practices required from time to time.
- Compliance: Ensure the orchard operations adhere to standards of all agricultural audit’s guidelines (e.g., GAP, Global GAP). Handle and address any deviation on standards.
Candidate Profile and Qualifications
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree or Diploma in Agriculture, Horticulture, Agronomy, Crop Science, or a related field.
- Minimum of 3–5 years’ hands-on experience in orchard or plantation management, preferably in avocado or fruit crop production.
- Proven experience in crop husbandry practices such as pruning, grafting, irrigation management, and pest/disease control.
- Experience in managing farm labour teams, ensuring productivity, compliance, and safety standards are met.
Knowledge and Skills
- Strong understanding of avocado crop growth stages, phenological monitoring, and seasonal planning.
- Deeper agricultural knowledge of the avocado crop husbandry and seasons in East Africa.
- In-depth understanding of the avocado husbandry practices.
- Proficiency in irrigation scheduling, fertilizer application, and pest & disease management.
- Ability to manage inventory, tools, and field equipment, ensuring proper utilization and maintenance.
- Sound knowledge of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Global GAP, and other agricultural audit standards.
- Excellent people management skills, including staff supervision, training, and performance monitoring.
- Hands-on, proactive, and results-oriented approach to orchard management.
- Excellent communication and teamwork abilities, with a passion for continuous learning and improvement.
