Expected global suitability of coffee, cashew and avocado due to climate change

The minimum temperature of the coldest month and the annual precipitation are the two most limiting factors in the suitability model. The boundaries of the avocado growing regions in North and South America, southern Africa and northern Asia, as well as in certain moun- tain regions, are limited by low minimum temperatures in the coldest month. The annual pre- cipitation limits avocado suitability both in wet (Central America, West Africa, Southeast Asia) and dry regions (Eastern Brazil, East Africa, Australia, northern boundaries in Africa) because avocado has a narrow precipitation optimum (see Table 1). Only in a few regions do long dry seasons limit avocado suitability. Compared to climatic criteria, land and soil criteria only play a minor role in the global avocado model with low soil pH (Amazon basin, Congo basin, Borneo) and unfavourable soil texture (Central America, Central Africa), limiting suit- ability in few regions. In the four main producing countries investigated (Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Indonesia), avocado suitability is also mainly limited by low and high precipitation and low minimum temperatures of the coldest month (Table 5). Regarding the land and soil criteria, Fig 6. Current climate suitability for cashew in India. A current suitability of mean annual temperature, B current suitability of mean minimum temperature of the coldest month, C current suitability of mean annual precipitation, D suitability of the length of the dry season, E overall current climate suitability. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261976.g006 PLOS ONE

Global suitability of coffee, cashew and avocado PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261976 January 26, 2022 13 / 24