Pineapple Farming

Pineapple can be grown on practically any kind of soil provided the following conditions are fulfilled:
*Good supply of water
*Calcium content of the soil must be high

Although a fruit, it does not grow on a tree. Instead, it grows on a low plant tree to four feet high.

Pineapple is very resistant to drought, however, there should be at least 760 mm of rain.

The field is cleared, ploughed thoroughly followed by harrowing to get a fine tilth.

In old plantations, the old plant must be disposed of. The field is then plowed to a depth of a foot and the chopped plant material turned under. A machine lays back paper in a long row.

Planting material usually consist of crowns, slips and suckers. Crowns bear fruits in 22 to 24 months, slips in about 20 months and suckers in 17 months. Pineapples are planted in 2 to 4 or 5 rows per bed.

Optimum time of planting varies from region to region mainly depending upon the climatic conditions and varieties.

Controlling weed is the major intercultural operation in pineapple field. Weeding should be done at least 3 to 4 times a years. Manual weeding can be partially eliminated by chemical weedicides.
About fifteen months after planting, a small bud appears in the center of the plant. Dozens of little blue and pink flowers, each lasting but one day, blossom around the outside of the tiny pineapple.

In about twenty months after the plant is set out, the fruit is ready to pick.

After harvest fresh fruit should be washed and waxed prior to boxing and fungicides for post harvest disease prevention should be in the wax.
Pineapple Farming