To give you a better idea of the impact of development on avocado acreage, consider the graph below which shows avocado acreage in California between 1920 and 1995. You can see from the graph that for the 1970s to mid-1980s, the growth in avocado acreage grew dramatically. Yet, starting in the mid-1980s that growth abruptly stopped and then plummetted. Given the soil characteristics, the slope of the ground, etc., a grower must consider what other crops aside from avocados might be grown on the land. Assuming that avocados are judged to be the preferred production commodity, the producer must consider the labor and water costs involved in avocado production.
Avocados are quite demanding of both labor and water.
Therefore, producers considering operating an avocado orchard should consider the cost of labor as well as its availability during critical parts of the season. If labor cost and availability is a problem, then avocado production may have a high opportunity cost and the investor may be better off investing in other areas. Similarly, water can be a constraining factor. Ideally, all the water a producer would need would come from rainfall occurring at critical growing times for the avocado trees. Unfortunately, much of California is a Mediterranean or desert environment, especially where avocados grow.