Poor Pollination : Gray days are blamed for a light crop. Eighty percent of this year’s harvest is coming from outside the county.

Gloomy skies over Ventura County can often hinder more than just a sun worshiper’s chance to enjoy a day at the beach. For farmers, those humdrum days can sometimes pose big problems.

Such is the case for the local avocado industry.

When a warming sun failed to burn through a pall of gray last spring, many tiny would-be blossoms were never coaxed into opening, the first step in the avocado’s 14-month-long growth process. “Because of all the cloudy weather, there was little bloom pollination from the bees,” said avocado grower Dave Schwabauer, part owner of Leavens Ranch in Moorpark. And, because pollination last year was lacking, so is this season’s local avocado harvest.

“This is a tough season for the Ventura County avocado grower,” Schwabauer said. “It’s been a real light season.”

Entering the summer months, area growers would normally be looking forward to peak production--a harvest worth about $55 million annually.

“During a good year, you can expect to harvest about 8,000 pounds of fruit to the acre,” he said. “This year it’s around 2,000 pounds.”

What does this production shortfall mean to you the consumer?

According to Mike Mobley, owner of Progressive Land Management in Santa Paula, prices are remaining stable, thanks in part to a large bounty from other counties.

“The California Avocado Commission is saying 80% of this year’s crop is coming from below Los Angeles County,” Mobley said. San Diego and Riverside counties are flooding the market with quality fruit, he said, ensuring favorable prices at least for the time being. “(Retail prices) are ranging around 39 to 69 cents apiece,” he said.

Mobley, who manages about 550 acres of citrus and avocados, said prices are likely to rise later this summer once production from other areas decreases. “There’s going to be a lot less fruit on the market by late July,” he said.

Besides a smaller-than-normal harvest, area growers also have to fend off another seasonal nuisance: thieves. California Avocado Commission officials estimate that between $1 million and $2.75 million worth of the subtropical fruit is stolen each year in the county.

“In years when the crop is real light, the potential can be even higher for theft,” said Robert Verloop, the commission’s program manager for field theft prevention. Theft rings, many of them highly organized, descend upon the lucrative avocado crop and sell their booty to restaurants, flea markets and street vendors.

While the outlook is bleak for this season--which continues through October--local growers are holding out hope for a bumper crop in 1993. This spring’s bloom period--normally mid-March to mid-April--was greeted with sunny weather that sent pollinating bees in search of blooming avocado trees. “It’s a lot better start this time,” Mobley said. “There’s lots of variables, but we expect to see a big crop.”

THE RIPE STUFF

After purchasing avocados that haven’t reached desired ripeness, consumers can control the rate at which the fruit ripens, grower Dave Schwabauer said.

“The easiest way to ripen is to take the avocado and stick it in a brown bag with a banana and just leave it on the counter,” he said. “The banana will release ethylene gas, triggering the ripening process,” which should take about five or six days.