Pineapple Cultivation

Pineapple Plant Information

Pineapples fruits are one of the important commercial fruit crops which are not only wonderful and delicious in taste but are also easy to grow with little care and management of them. So, it is a good idea to grow pineapples as a business plan and earn a million from it. Pineapple farming can be a really profitable business if cultivated with proper care and good farm management skills.

It is most demanded by the people throughout the world for its delightful flavor and yummy taste. It is consumed in large quantity by the foodies because of they are the excellent source of Vitamins A, B and also full of vitamin C. Also, pineapples are also a good source of minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, and iron along with a digestive enzyme named; Bromelain. Pineapples fruits are eaten as fresh as well are canned and also processed in various forms to meet it market demands.

The “scientific name of pineapple” is “Ananas comosus”

Historically, Hawaii was the biggest producer of pineapples. But presently, pineapples are most cultivated by the Brazil in the Philippines, and Costa Rica. It is because of this, pineapples fruits are known as the native fruit of the Paraguay and Brazil, and somewhat Caribbean parts….

How long do pineapples take to grow? It totally depends on the cultivar and climate condition of the atmosphere. But, generally, in about two years, a pineapple becomes ready for harvesting. The fruiting season of this yummy fruit start from March and runs until the June. And you can collect numbers of fruits per each tree which can be eaten as fresh, can be cooked, juiced and also preserved. The leaves of pineapples are used as ceiling insulation and also as wallpaper. Pineapples are most popular for their use in alcoholic beverages as the flavor of which the most popular is the pina colada; the tropical drink!!!

Where Do Pineapples Grow?

Some Pineapple lovers have a question. how long does it take to grow a pineapple? It will take 2 years or 24 months.

Before starting pineapple farming, it is a good idea to learn where do pineapples grow in the worlds? So, here below is a guide for you to learn…. In Which climate condition and soil, pineapples grow well in the following section.

Agroclimatic Condition For Pineapple Farming

Pineapples are tropical fruits crop which can be cultivated throughout the world. However, Regions with heavy rainfall are considered as the best for optimum pineapple growth. Since a supporting climate condition can play a vital role in obtaining optimum fruit production so cultivating them in such area is always beneficial.

An Optimum rainfall of 1500 mm per year is sufficient enough for their best growth. However, they can be also cultivated in areas having rainfall 500 mm to 5550 mm per annum. So, Pineapples are best suitable for doing cultivation in humid and surrounded tropics. Also, this fruit can also grow well near the coastal area as well the interior portion, where there is not too hot weather.

So, growing pineapples in temp. ranging between 15.5 ‘C to 32.50 ‘C is supposed to be the best temp for pineapple cultivation. Note that extreme low temp. bright sunshine along with total shades are harmful to this commercial crop. However, they can grow well up to 1500 MSL height.

Best Soil For Pineapple Farming

Pineapples can be grown in any soil types which have free draining capacity. However, for optimum production, a soil which is slightly acidic and has soil pH ranging between 5.5 to 6.0 is considered as the best soil for pineapple. It should have good drainage and light texture.

Note that soil having heavy clay are preferred more for pineapple farming. However, they can grow well in sandy, laterite, and also alluvial soil.

How To Grow Pineapples

Pineapple Plantation

As mentioned earlier, pineapples are humid tropical crops that can grow well in the plain area as well as elevations up to some limit. Note that this commercial fruit crop neither can tolerate extreme temp. nor the frost. So, always select a suitable land for planting pineapple where it is too hot summer or frost conditions occurs usually in that specific region.

Way of Propagation

Pineapples are usually propagated with the help of slip, suckers and crown planting materials. Slips and crown planting materials having age about six months can bear flowers after about a one year of plantation. Whereas crown planting material can bear flowers about 18 months of planting them on the main field. Nowadays, with the help of advance pineapple farming techniques, it is available to produce pineapple plants with the help of tissue culture.

Spacing or Density Plantation in Pineapple Farming

To achieve higher production, it is a good idea to go for high-density plantation in commercial pineapple farming. So, here below is a guide for idle spacing and planting density for pineapple farming.

For subtropical area having mild humid conditions, the spacing of 23 X 60 X 75 cm is considered as idle spacing and is sufficient enough grow more than 60,000 plants per unit hectare. And
For farming pineapple in hot and humid condition, a spacing of 25 X 60 X 90 is best. By this, one can plant more than 50,000 plants per unit hectare.
But, hilly area with high fertility, the spacing should be somewhat less than it. In such area, planting around 30,000 plants per hectare is sufficient enough to obtain a good yield.

How To Plant Pineapple

There are 4 different systems of the plantation in pineapple farming. These four different planting methods are

• Flat-bed planting method
• Furrow planting method
• Contour planting method and
• Trench planting method

However, planting system in pineapple farming varies in accordance with soil type and rainfall in particular region.



Note that in slopes or hilly region, contour planting or TERRACING is should be adopted.

Irrigation In Pineapple Farming

Friends, Pineapples is water-loving plants and is mostly cultivated in good rainfed areas. An Optimum rainfall of 1500 mm per year is sufficient enough for their best growth. However, water should be supplemented to obtains good sized pineapple fruits for good profit.

Nowadays, it is possible to planting pineapples throughout the whole year to obtain year-round production. Take care while irrigation. Provide water to your crop, time to time on the basis of requirements.

Application of Manure and Fertilizers in Pineapple Farming

Farming Pineapples in soil having good organic matter and high fertility is always beneficial in getting more production. However, a pineapples crops require a minimum of 15 gm of Nitrogen and Potassium per each plant. Friends, this crop does not require phosphorous for its healthy growth. However, if your soil is less fertile, then application of 4 gm of P2O5 is also beneficial for getting a higher yield.

Care while application of Nitrogen. Apply Nitrogen in six equal split doses. The first dose should be applied after two months of plantation whereas the last one is to be applied at about one year of planting pineapples on the main field. Follow the same for application of Potash.

Pineapple | Insects, Pests, and Diseases

This commercial crop is totally free from insects, pests, and diseases. However, mealy bugs and scale insects have some exceptions. Also, the disease of stem rot is also an exception. Controlling measures of these pests and disease include good drainage capacity and dipping of the suckers in the mixture of Bordeaux before planting pineapples.

Intercultural Activities in Pineapple Farming

Intercultural activities help in enhancing the good plant growth. So, it is essential to perform some of the intercultural activities such as weedling. Earthing up in pineapple farming is an essential activity o perform to the good encouragement of good plant growth. As the roots of this commercial crops are much shallow, plants should be eventually lodged particularly for the flat-bed planting method in rainfall areas.

Lodge plants when fruits are in their growing stage will results in lopsided growth, also better development and fruit ripening. Handling this intercultural activity is more important in the ratoon crops, because of the plant base shifts-up, during crop after crops. However, Planting with high-density plantation can reduce the necessity of this intercultural operation up to some extent since the plants propping with each other prevent the lodging in this commercial crop.

Harvesting Pineapples

Usually, pineapple plant starts flowering after about 12 to 15 months of the plantation. How long do pineapples take to grow? Is totally depends on the cultivar, time of plantation, type of planting material along with size and also the climate condition of the atmosphere of your farm. But, generally, in about two years after planting on the main field, the pineapple crop becomes ready for harvesting. The fruiting season of this yummy fruit start from March and runs until the late June.

However, under the natural climatic condition, this yummy fruits comes for harvesting from May to August. The fruit ripening process is the long lasting process. Usually, fruit ripening takes about 5 to 6 months of the plants flowering. It is a notable point that irregularity in flowering can leads to longer harvesting time. So, for this, make use of Ethrel (@ 100 ppm) solution to the plant, about one month before the flowering start. This will give you over 80 % uniform flowering in the main season.

For canning, this fruits should be harvested or collected when a slight change appears at the fruit developing base. And for table purpose, they should not be collected till they achieve attractive golden yellow color.

Depending on the soil type, harvested plant crop can be maintained as ratoon crop for about four years. Ratooning crop in high-density plantation yield fruits weighing around 90 % and 80 % of the crop in the 2nd and 3rd year respectively. The plant yield can reduce up to 50 % of production in the following years of ratooning.

Yield

Presently, with the help of advance pineapple farming techniques and good farm management skills, it is available to produce more than 80 tonnes of pineapple fruits per unit hectare depending on the spacing and intercultural activities.

The economic life of the pineapple farming is about 5 years after which the main field should be uprooted and should be used for replantation of pineapple farming or can be utilized for farming another commercial crop.

Marketing

Pineapples have great demand in the market; both local and also international because of its delicious flavored taste. Apart from being eaten as fresh, this yummy fruit is also used for cooking, canning, processing, etc…

After collecting delicious fruits, look firstly for the local market. But, if want to earn more profit from it, then you can go to export this. Spain, U.K., and U.A.E are the largest consumer of this fruits. But note that exporting your fruits can cost you more also…

source : https://agrifarmingtips.com/pineapple-farming-guide/

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