Uses

Fresh fruit & value added products (jam cordial , chatni fresh cut ,canning etc.)

Grown well in low country wet zone & low country intermediate zone

Recommonded varieties

Muritious–

• most suitable for fresh fruit ,
• Conical shape fruit with  golden yellow colour flesh ,
• Spine present in leaves
• More sweeter than kew
• Produce more suckers than kew
• Average yield 16 mt/ha
• Average fruit weight 1.5 – 1.8 kg

 Kew

• most suitable for processing specially canning .
• Cylindrical shape fruit with Pale yellow colour flesh
• , Spineless or a few spines with leaves
• Less sweeter than Mauritius
• Produce less suckers than Mauritius
• Average yield 25 mt/ha
• Average fruit weight 2- 2.5 kg

Soil & climate requirements

• Annual rain fall 1500- 3000 mm
• Temperature 24- 32 ⁰C most favorable for pineapple cultivation
• Well drained Sandy Loams soil with pH 5 – 6  is most suitable for cultivation

Field preparation

• Basic preparation like other crops
• Prepare 20 cm width and 20 cm deep trenches
• In Sloppy lands contour system and in flat lands east and wet directions

Planting

• Put the suckers in the trenches and add the soil to cover 10 – 15 cm of sucker base

Planting material

1. Suckers
2. Tissue culture plants

Suckers

• 4 types of suckers can be used
• suckers with 12-14 leaves are more suitable for cultivation (small & large suckers effect of flowering time&fruit quality)
• natural flowering differ with sucker type
• Root suckers and axil suckers are recommended for commercial cultivation

• Pineapple crown can be used as plating material for commercial cultivation with foliar fertilizer
• Two weeks after planting apply foliar fertilizer up to two months period at two weeks interval
• Other fertilizer application and cultural practices are like to root and axil suckers cultivation

Inter cropping with coconut

• Before 3 years and after 20 years coconut plantations are suitable
• 2 m away from coconut plant
• Can be grown in 3 single rows or 3 double rows between 2 coconut plants

Fertilizer application

Below pH 4

• 2 weeks before planting add 2 tons of dolomite /ha
• 2 weeks before planting add poultry manure/ cow-dung or compost 10 tons/ ha
• Fertilizer recommendation depends on agro-ecological zones

Wet zone  –

Grams/plant

Dry & intermediate zones-

Grams/plant

Weed control

• Manual/mechanical –
• hand weeding or used mammoty/ weedier
• Chemical methods-
• Diuron 80% WP – 2kg dissolve in 180-200 liter water /ha

Moisture conservation

• Mulching, Earthling up

Crop cultivation & management

• Cultivate as single crop or intercrop
• Recommended for Intercropping with coconut/rubber plantation , can also be cultivated with banana, papaya or export agriculture crops
• Can be cultivated in single or double row system

Spacing

Single row system

Between two single rows 2m

  Double row system

 Between two rows  – 60 cm Between two double rows – 1.5m

Pre- treatments for suckers

• All planting materials are treated with insecticide and fungicide before planting.
• remove lower 3-4 leaves
• first do insecticide treatments

fungicide treatment should be done day after the insecticide treatment

After pre -treatments keep the plants at a shady place for 2-3 days in upside down direction

Harvesting

• Well matured fruits with 25% colour change from the fruit base are suitable for harvesting
• Fruits should be harvested with 10-15 cm of stem

Artificial flower induction (hormone application)

• In order to avoid uneven natural flowering artificial flower induction is common in commercial practices.
• naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA –plantfix) or ethepon (ethylene releasing chemical ) can be used
• 35 -40 leaves stage is most suitable for flower induction
• do not used chemical fertilizer and weedicides one month before hormone application

Ethaphone

Rainy season

• Dissolve 25-30ml of ethral in 100 liter of water and add 1.5 kg of urea to the mixture and mix well, then apply 30 ml of mixture to the plant rosette

Dry season

• Dissolve 15-20 ml of ethral in 100 liter of water and add 1 kg of urea to the mixture and mix well, then apply 50 ml of mixture to the plant rosette.

NAA

• Dissolve 10ml of NAA  in 45 liter of water, then apply 50 ml to the plant rosette.

Sucker production

• Remove apical bud from vegetative plants with 25- 30 leaves
• Then apply 15 g of urea to the soil per plant and moist the soil
• After 9-12 weeks 4-9 suckers can be harvested
• Then apply 25- 30 g of urea to the soil per plant and moist the soil
• After 8-10 weeks 4-9 suckers can be harvested
• From one plant , suckers can be produced 3-4 times

Pest and diseases control

Mealy bugs

• Most important insect in pineapple cultivation
• Can be seen on the fruits, basal parts of the crop or crowns
• Vector of pineapple wilt diseases

Control

• Select healthy planting material
• Pre- treatment prior to planting
• Weed control in the field
• If mealy bugs are presence in the cultivation apply recommended insecticide

Crown rot and root rot

Causal agent – phytophthoraspp

Symptoms

• Plants of all ages are attacked
• Young leaves can be easily pulled from the plant
• Leaves change in colour from a healthy green through various shades of red and yellow
• Root system is dead and plants can be easily pulled from the ground

Control

• Planting healthy suckers
• Pre- treatment prior to plating
• Planting in well drain soil
• Do not plant the suckers too deep
• Apply recommended fungicide to the fields with symptoms

Fruit rot

Postharvest diseases

• Fungi can enter the fruit through cutting edges

Symptoms

• Fruit rot begins from the stem

Control

• At harvesting do not damage the fruit
• Clean the stores prior to store the fruit ( 2% formalin solution)
• After harvesting dip the stems in 5% sodium bicarbonate solution

Pineapple wilt

• Economically important diseases
• Virus transmitted by mealy bug
• Early symptoms are slight reddening of leaves then change from red to pink and leaves lose rigidity and roll down words at the margin and the tip of the leaf dies
• Plats appear wilted
• Fruits are smaller than fruits from healthy plants
• Plant vigor are reduced
• Mealy bugs are moved from plant to plant by ants

Control

• Plant healthy suckers
• Pre -treatment prior to planting
• If mealy bugs are present in the cultivation apply recommended insecticide
• Remove the affected plants in the field