Scientific cultivation of pineapple or Ananas comosus

The scientific cultivation of pineapple covers following topics:

• Botanical description
• Distribution
• Soil and climatic requirements
• Propagation
• Choice of varieties
• Planting
• Irrigation
• Insect-pests
• Harvesting
• Post harvest technology
• Other important topics

Common name	Pineapple
Botanical name	Ananas comosus L.
Family	Bromeliaceae
Chromosome number	X = 25, 2n = 50, 75, 100
Origin	Brazil
Introduced in India	1548
Type of fruit	Sorosis
Edible portion	Bracts and Perianth
Good source of	Vitamin A, B and C
Enzyme	Bromelin (it is digestive)
Composition	1. Average sugar % in pineapple: 10-12 % 2. Acid content in pineapple: 0.6-0.8 %

Also read: Banana Cultivation One Liner

Distribution

It is cultivated in high rainfall and humid coastal region in peninsular India and hilly areas.

Also read: Grape Cultivation: Varieties, propagation, and diseases

Climate

• Optimum temperature for cultivation: 22-32 °C.
• Ideal temperature for the growth and development of leaves: 32 °C.
• Best temperature for the growth and development of roots: 29 °C.
• A difference of at least 4 °C between night and day temperatures is desirable.
• It can be grown up to 11000 m above MSL.
• Average annual rainfall for commercial cultivation is 100-150 cm or 1000-1500 mm.

Soil

• Sandy loam soil is ideal.
• Ideal soil pH ranges form 5-6.

Propagation

• Propagation is done by suckers and slips.
• Weight of slips should be 350 gm for higher yield and better produce.
• Weight of suckers should be 450 gm.
• For coorg honey dew, weight of suckers should be 50-750 gm and the weight of slips should be 300-400 gm.
• For Assam: Same as Karnataka.
• For Kerala: Weight of sucker should be 500-1000 gm.

Planting

• Time of planting varies from place to place depending upon the onset of monsoon and intensity of rainfall.
• Planting time in Assam: August to October.
• Kerala and Karnataka: April to June.
• Peak flowering period: Jan to March.
• Planting for West Bengal : Oct to November. Peak flowering period is 12-15 month after planting.

Planting system

• Flat bed and furrow, and for hilly areas: contour and trench methods.
• Ideal plant density for subtropical condition: 63400 plant/ha.
• For hot and humid condition: 5300 plant/ha.

Spacing

• Plant × Plant: 25 cm
• Row × Row: 60 cm
• Trench to trench: 90 cm

Also read: Mango Plantation: Cultivation Practice and Orchard Management

Manure and fertilizer

• Pineapple is a shallow feeder crop.
• For Kew pineapple variety: 12 gm N/plant.
• NPK dose for Assam region is 12:4:12 gm/plant /year.
• Application of 4 gm P2O5 per plant in ratoon crop increases fruit weight and yield.

Interculture

Earthing up

• It is done to provide anchorage to the plants.
• It prevents lodging in heavy rainfall area.

Weed control

Application of Diuron (3 kg/ha) or combination of bromocil + Diuron @ 2kg/ha as pre emergence spray are effective.

Mulching

• It is done for conserve soil moisture.
• Mulching with black polythene and saw dust are good.

Removal of suckers and slips

• A sucker grows with the emergence of inflorescence.
• Slips grow with the developing fruits.
• Increase number of slips delay fruit maturity.
• Removal of suckers is known as denevalling.

Irrigation

• Mostly grown under rainfed condition.
• Supplementary irrigation produce good size fruits in area having optimum rain fall.
• During hot weather irrigation are given in 20-25 days interval.

Use of growth regulators

• For inducing flowering: NAA and NAA based compound (Planofix and celemone) at 10 -20 days interval.
• Flowering in pineapple could also be induced by application of ethapon or ethereal (100 ppm).
• Flower induction should be done when plant attains 35 to 40 functional leaves.
• Application of NAA (200-300 ppm) 2- 3 month after fruit set increases 15- 20% fruit size.

Varieties

Kew

• • Leading commercial variety.
• Suitable for canning.
• Fruit weight: 1.5-2.5 kg.
• Giant kew is mostly cultivated in West Bengal.

Queen

• Widely grown in Tripura
• Fruit weight: 0.9-1.3 kg.

Mauritious

• Mid season variety of queen group.
• Suitable for table purposes.

Triploid variety

• Cayenne: Cultivated in Philippines
• Sugar leaf: Sweetest and best flavored fruit.

Early season variety	Queen
Mid season variety	Mauritious
Late season variety	Kew, Jaint Kew

Harvesting

• Flowering time from the date of planting: 10-12 months.
• Fruit mature period: 15-18 months.
• Pineapple comes to harvest: May-August.
• Fruit that mature in winter are acidic.
• Slight clour change at the base of developing fruits is suitable for canning purpose.
• Suitable harvesting stage for table purposes is Golden yellow colour stage.
• Fruits with crown can be kept from 10-15 days after harvest without any damage.
• Average fruit weight in 1st ratooning in HDP: 88 % and 79 % in the 2nd rationing.

Important points

• Most of the pineapple cultivar are diploid.
• Pineapple is a monocotyledonous, monocarpic, CAM plant and herbaceous plant.
• It is a non-climatric fruit crop.
• Serious pest of pineapple is mealy bug
• Pseudococcus brevipes is transmitted through virus.

Multiple colours are important
physiological disorder occurs due to genetical or nutritional imbalance.

Heart rot, Phytopthora parasitica, is a fungal disease. It mostly occurs in alkaline.