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Pineapple

Resource by Plusfarm

Pineapple, is an herbaceous biennial or perennial plant is grown for its edible fruit. The pineapple plant has a short stout stem and a rosette of sword-shaped leaves with needle-like tips. The leaves are waxy, have upturned spines on the margins, and may be solid green or striped with red, white or cream. When the plant flowers, the stem begins to elongate and produces a flower head of small purple or red flowers, each with a pointed bract. The stem continues to elongate and sets down a tuft of of short leaves called a 'crown'. Individual fruits develop from the flowers and fuse to form one large cylindrical fruit topped by the crown. This fruit, known as a pineapple, has a tough rind made up of hexagonal units and a fibrous, juicy flesh which may be yellow to white in color. Pineapple may reach 1.5–1.8 m (5–6 ft) in height and some varieties can grow for in excess of 20 years. Pineapple originates from the tropical regions of the Americas.

Varieties

Smooth cayenne	Shallow eyes, orange rind, yellow flesh, low fiber, juiciness and rich mildly acid flavor
MD2	Super-sweet, self-ripening and having a longer storage life with a value twice as much as that of the smooth cayenne variety
Sweet 16	Flesh boasts an entirely different flavor and texture. It is distinctively sweet, juicy and firm

Cultivation

Ecological Requirements

In Kenya pineapples grow well from sea level up to 2000 m. Altitude has an important effect on the flavour of the fruit; above 1800 m they become increasingly sour and acidic.

The best soil for pineapple culture is a well-drained, sandy loam with a high content of organic matter and it should be friable for a depth of at least 60 cm. The crop does well on optimum pH of 4-5. Soils with old ant hills have a higher pH, and are not suitable for the production of good pineapples. Avoid black cotton soil, low lying areas and common red loams that are likely to flood.

Spacing

Spacing depends on the crop pattern chosen. For monocropping where irrigation is available plant double rows,40 cm apart,60cm between the double rows, and 20cm between plants. Under rainfed condition spacing between double row is increased 60cm apart and 90cm between the double row and 30cm between plants

Land preparation

The land should be well prepared before planting because pineapple is shallow-rooted and easily damaged by post-planting cultivation. Proper land preparation is extremely important for the development of the roots. Poor land preparation result in poor yields. Perennial weeds should be cleared by repeated deep cultivations during the dry season. Uproot weeds (e.g. couch grass (I sp.), allow them to dry, harrow into strips and burn them.

In areas where the soils have high clay content, it is essential to plough also during the dry season to facilitate root penetration of pineapples. Plough to a depth of 45 cm, or if using hand digging, dig as deep as possible. After ploughing, use a disc harrow to produce a fine tilth

In intercropping,the same double rows can be used and interplanted with legumes or cereals

Fertilizer And Manure

soil nutrient analysis is done to determine the levels of soil nutrients. In case of nutrients depletion, the following can be applied:

1. 300kg of DAP 10cm deep below the planting line in a furrow before mulching or side dressing treatment 11g per plant when plants are around 2 months old. fertiliser placed at the base of the plant to avoid scorching

2. 5-10 tons/ha of manure can also be applied to the field 10cm deep below the planting line in a furrow before mulching and planting

Commercial propagation of pineapple is not through seeds but by vegetative propagation. Three types of planting material are used for pineapple growing. These are crowns, slips and suckers.

Crowns are the leafy growth on top of the fruit. In Thika, these take 25-28 months to come into bearing, but have uniform growth and are less susceptible to premature fruiting.

Slips are leafy shoot growth arising from the fruit stalks. They take 22-24 months to come into bearing.

Suckers are leafy shoot growth from the base of the plant where the roots grow. They give the highest yield but take longer to fruit production. They are also more difficult to plant. Suckers take 18-22 months to come into bearing.

Spacing depends on the cropping pattern chosen. For monocropping where irrigation is available a plant population of 70,000 to 100,000 plants/ha is possible. This can be achieved by planting double rows 40 cm apart, 60 cm between the double rows, and 20 cm between plants. This can give a yield of 100 to 120 t/ha plus about 40 t/ha for the ratoon crop. Under rain-fed conditions spacing between double rows are increased to double rows 60 cm apart and 90 cm between the double rows and 30 cm between plants. This spacing can yield about 75 t/ha plus 30 t/ha in the first ratoon.

Pests and Diseases / Commonly Used Agrochemicals

Pests/disease	Management
Wireworms	Telone II, Diuron.
Mediterranean fruit fly	trichlorfon
nematodes	1,3-dichloropropene
Termites	Confidor 70WG
White grubs	Chlorpyrifos Telone II, Diuron.
Mealybugs	Chlorpyrifos diazinon Spirotetramat Dursban
Base rot	propiconazole
Heart rot	vydate
Bud rot	vydate
Pineapple wilt	Telone II, Diuron,
sclerotia	Telone II, Diuron,
Blue and green mold	Fludioxonil
phytophthora	fosetyl-Al metalaxyl/metalaxyl-M phosphorous acid

Post Harvest

The fruits are ready to harvest when they snap off at the bending of the fruit. Fresh fruits destined for the local market are plucked when almost ripe. Fresh pineapples destined for export are harvested green-ripe (beginning to turn yellow-green at the base of the fruit). They are cut off with a sharp knife leaving a stem which is later trimmed to 3.4 cm.

Fruits can then be cool-stored for up to four weeks (storage temperature about 7°C). Because of their low sugar-content, pineapples harvested too early are unpopular amongst consumers (unripe pineapples do not ripen after harvest). The colour of the skin is an important criterion in determining the ripeness of the fruit. Fruits destined for the European market are often classified according to the extent to which an orange-yellow colouring has spread up from the base of the fruit as follows:

Ripeness-colour 1: Only the base is orange-yellow.

Ripeness-colour 2: The orange-yellow colour covers half of the fruit.

Ripeness-colour 3: The orange-yellow colour reaches three quarter up.

Ripeness-colour 4: Whole of the fruit yellow.