PINEAPPLE PRODUCTION GUIDE

Pineapple was the star among many countries. It was widely known by anybody. The sweetness penetrated deeply in our senses. It participated in making the body healthy as the fruit itself is heavily laden with vitamins and minerals especially vitamin C known to be anti-oxidant. Pineapple was commercially produced.

There are many consumer products produced using pineapple as raw materials. They are manufactured in cans, tins and tetra packs or freshly cut for sale. It is best alternative for weight loss and other benefits related to health.

Planting pineapple is good farming practice. Maintenance and care is not as complex and vigorous if you have the interest and patience of waiting the day of fruiting and harvesting.

In rural areas, it is easy for a community to plant pineapple in their backyard for personal consumption and able to harvest without proper care to it. To have better and bigger pineapple size, proper maintenance to the plant is necessary.

To plant pineapple for commercial purpose, you need to know the many helpful points to be able to have higher yield and success in producing them.

Select a better place to plant pineapple. Test the soil pH to be able to arrive to correct application of fertilizer to use. Pineapple can adapt to any type of soil but loamy soil is the best.

Prepare the land, tilling it properly. Plow and harrow 3 times alternately to loosen the soil until the soil has good tilt.

Select the best slips and suckers as your planting materials. You can procure it from other commercial pineapple farms selling planting materials to interested buyers.

Treat planting materials first to ensure that they are free from diseases. It can be protected by curing and dipping it to fungicide solution.

Select planting materials that has high recovery rate or survival rate in the field or a variety that can grow faster.

Curing the slips and suckers is done by direct exposure to sunlight for the period of 4 weeks before the scheduled planting.  It enables the cut basal portion called the butt end to heal and form callus where the root system starts to form. At the same time, it helps to prevent fungal infection because of the long exposure to the sun during the curing process.

Another way is dipping the planting materials (butt ends) directly to fungicide solution. This will be the effective prevention against fatal fungal disease like heart rot and bud rot.

Without necessary protection, the fungal disease will appear within 3 months after planting. If diseased, the base of young leaves will slowly rot including stem, buds and heart of the plant. If not treated, planting materials will die.

The application of fertilizer is important aspect of plant’s life to grow healthy, robust and with vigor that can stand against fungal infection. It is also induces pineapple to flower especially the appearance of red bud and starts of flowering.

Use 10 grams of ammonium sulfate (nitrogen), 10 grams of muriate of potash (potassium) per plant. Fertilization played key role in the growth of plants. After the application, the plants started to fruit. A healthy fruit weigh 1.80 kilos, 16 centimeters in height with the diameter of 12 centimeters as they matured.

Observed the following:

-While preparing planting beds in the farm. See to it that it has enough drainage system to remove the excess water in the field. The beds should be raised 30 centimeters from the ground.

-Plant the slips and suckers before wet season. Space the plant closely to increase concentration of suckers and slips in one hectare.