Pineapple

https://agri.bot/crop-calendar/pineapple

Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is one of India's leading tropical fruits, with annual production of roughly 1.8 – 1.9 million MT from about 110,000 – 130,000 hectares, placing India among the world's top five pineapple producers alongside Costa Rica, Philippines, Brazil and Thailand. The crop is concentrated in two agro-climatic belts: the humid north-east — Tripura (the single largest NE producer with Queen variety dominant and the state fruit of Tripura), Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh — and the humid tropical west / south-west — Kerala (Vazhakulam, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Idukki), Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hassan), with Odisha (Koraput, Rayagada), coastal Andhra Pradesh (East Godavari), Tamil Nadu (Kanyakumari, Dindigul) and West Bengal (Darjeeling foothills, Jalpaiguri) rounding out the national footprint. The principal commercial varieties are Kew / Giant Kew (the processing-industry standard — large fruit, low acidity, dominant in Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal and Kerala processing blocks), Queen (small, intensely aromatic table variety — the Tripura standard and a key Kerala / Karnataka table variety), Mauritius (the Vazhakulam GI table variety of Kerala), Jaldhup (a cold-tolerant NE selection) and the MD-2 / Gold Pineapple hybrid currently under commercial trial for export markets. The nodal R&D anchor is ICAR–IIHR Bengaluru with the Pineapple Research Station (PRS) Vazhakulam under the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) as the principal AICRP-Tropical Fruits centre for pineapple; in the north-east, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam (Meghalaya) with its Tripura centre at Lembucherra / Nagicherra anchors the technology package. Development funding flows through the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and its HMNEH sub-scheme for the north-east, while APEDA handles export promotion for fresh fruit and processed pineapple products (concentrate, slices, chunks, juice). The Vazhakulam Pineapple of Kerala received Geographical Indication registration in 2009.

Twelve-month operations

Fertilizer schedule

ICAR–IIHR / PRS Vazhakulam / KAU-recommended NPK dose per pineapple plant per crop cycle is approximately 12 g N + 4 g P₂O₅ + 12 g K₂O, which translates to about 500 – 600 kg N + 170 – 200 kg P₂O₅ + 500 – 600 kg K₂O per hectare on high-density (~43,500 – 53,000 plants/ha) commercial blocks. The dose is applied in 3 – 6 splits — a basal P and part-K at planting, and the remaining N and K in splits at 3, 6 and 9 months after planting, strictly avoiding application during the flower-initiation and fruit-development stages (which would otherwise cause fruit cracking and quality loss). Farmyard manure or well-decomposed cattle manure at 25 t/ha is incorporated at pit / bed preparation to build organic matter on the acidic humid-tropical laterites of Kerala, Karnataka and the north-east. Foliar urea (2%) and potassium sulphate (1%) sprays at the vegetative stage and foliar MgSO₄ / ZnSO₄ / FeSO₄ correction based on soil-test and leaf-analysis values are standard on the leached NE podzols and Kerala laterites.

Pest & disease management

The headline pests and diseases of Indian pineapple are: (1) Pineapple Mealybug (Dysmicoccus brevipes) — the single most damaging pest, feeding at leaf bases, stems and root collars and acting as the vector of Pineapple Mealybug Wilt-associated Virus (PMWaV-1 and PMWaV-2) that causes the devastating 'mealybug wilt of pineapple' or MWP; the integrated management module includes virus-tested planting material, control of the attendant ant species (which protects the mealybug colonies from predators), curative dipping of suckers in chlorpyriphos / imidacloprid / buprofezin before planting, and foliar sprays at vegetative and pre-flowering stages; (2) Scale insects (Diaspis bromeliae) and mites on the acidic Kerala and NE blocks; (3) Phytophthora heart rot (Phytophthora parasitica, P. cinnamomi) and root rot — a critical disease in the heavy-rainfall north-east and in Kerala monsoon-affected blocks, managed through raised-bed cultivation, drainage, pre-plant metalaxyl + mancozeb dip of suckers, and curative foliar / drenching sprays; (4) Fusarium fruitlet rot (Fusarium moniliforme / F. subglutinans) causing the 'pink disease' of ripening fruit on the Vazhakulam and Dakshina Kannada blocks; (5) root-knot and reniform nematodes (Meloidogyne javanica, Rotylenchulus reniformis) on continuous-pineapple blocks — rotational fallow with cover crops and carbofuran / neem-cake soil application; (6) Black heart — a cold-induced post-harvest physiological disorder on winter-harvested fruit; (7) Sunscald on exposed fruit — managed by crown-covering with dry grass or newspaper on east-facing rows in Kerala and Odisha summer blocks.

Irrigation

Pineapple is largely rainfed across the north-east on 2,500 – 3,000 mm of annual precipitation — Tripura, Meghalaya (Cherrapunji / Mawsynram corridor), Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram — where supplementary irrigation is rare and the crop runs on monsoon rainfall and natural leaf-rosette water harvesting. In the Kerala laterite and Karnataka hill tracts (1,500 – 2,500 mm) and in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh (1,100 – 1,600 mm), commercial Vazhakulam, Dakshina Kannada and East Godavari blocks have moved to drip irrigation at roughly 2 – 4 L per plant per week during the critical flower-induction window (Dec – Feb) and the fruit-expansion phase (Mar – May), with irrigation withheld for 10 – 14 days ahead of ethephon spray to maximise flower-initiation response. Ethephon (0.25 ml/L of 39% SL) or NAA (25 ppm) foliar flower-induction sprays applied in Dec – Feb on 10 – 12-month-old plants are now the universal practice on commercial blocks to synchronise flowering and bring the harvest into the Apr – Jun / off-season Dec – Feb slots; calcium carbide (10 – 15 g in the leaf whorl of each plant) remains the older farmer-level alternative in the north-east.

Sources

• ICAR–IIHR — Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru
• Pineapple Research Station (PRS), Vazhakulam — Kerala Agricultural University
• ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam (with Tripura Centre, Lembucherra)
• MIDH / HMNEH — Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture guidelines
• APEDA Agri Exchange — Pineapple fresh and processed export statistics
• FAOSTAT — Pineapple production (Ananas comosus)
• National Horticulture Board (NHB) — Pineapple market and production data

Frequently asked questions

Why is India among the top pineapple producers and which states dominate?

India produces roughly 1.8 – 1.9 million MT of pineapple from about 110,000 – 130,000 hectares, placing it among the world's top five producers alongside Costa Rica, the Philippines, Brazil and Thailand (per FAOSTAT and MoAFW horticulture statistics). The crop is concentrated in two agro-climatic belts. The north-east belt — Tripura (the single largest NE producer, with Queen as the state fruit and dominant variety, grown around Nagicherra, Dhalai and West Tripura), Assam (Cachar, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon), Meghalaya (Ri-Bhoi, East Khasi Hills, West Garo Hills), Manipur, Nagaland (Dimapur, Peren), Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh (Pasighat, East Siang) — runs almost entirely on 2,500 – 3,000 mm of monsoon rainfall and uses the Queen and Kew varieties for both table and processing. The humid-tropical west / south-west belt — Kerala (Vazhakulam / Ernakulam, Kottayam, Idukki — the GI-tag Mauritius belt), Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru), Odisha (Koraput, Rayagada, Kandhamal), coastal Andhra Pradesh (East Godavari, Visakhapatnam), Tamil Nadu (Kanyakumari, Dindigul) and West Bengal (Darjeeling foothills, Jalpaiguri, Uttar Dinajpur) — produces for both the table-fruit market and the Vazhakulam / Nagicherra / Byrnihat processing industry (juice, concentrate, slices, chunks).

What are the main pineapple varieties grown in India (Kew / Queen / Mauritius / MD-2) and their uses?

Five varieties dominate Indian commercial pineapple. (1) Kew / Giant Kew — the processing-industry standard, a large (1.5 – 2.5 kg) low-acid cylindrical-cone fruit with pale yellow flesh and high juice yield; the backbone of the Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal and Kerala processing supply chain, feeding the Vazhakulam, Nagicherra and Byrnihat juice-concentrate-slice-chunk lines. (2) Queen — a small (0.9 – 1.3 kg) intensely aromatic, deep-golden-flesh table variety with high sugar and low acid; the Tripura state-fruit variety, the dominant table pineapple of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hassan and Kodagu, and the standard of Odisha (Koraput, Rayagada). (3) Mauritius — the Vazhakulam Pineapple of Kerala, which received Geographical Indication registration in 2009; a mid-size (1.3 – 1.8 kg) sweet-aromatic table variety grown around Vazhakulam, Muvattupuzha, Thodupuzha and Kothamangalam, with year-round availability driven by ethephon flower-induction. (4) Jaldhup — a cold-tolerant selection from the Jalpaiguri – Darjeeling foothills belt, planted in the sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Assam Barak Valley cold-pocket blocks. (5) MD-2 / Gold Pineapple — the Dole / Del Monte hybrid originally bred in Hawaii, under commercial trial in Kerala and Karnataka for export markets to West Asia and South-East Asia; it has deep-yellow flesh, high sweetness and uniform cone shape prized by international supermarket chains. ICAR–IIHR Bengaluru and the Pineapple Research Station Vazhakulam are the principal AICRP-Tropical Fruits centres for variety evaluation and release.

How is flower induction done in commercial pineapple (ethephon / NAA / calcium carbide)?

Pineapple is a photoperiod-sensitive crop that will flower naturally in short-day winter months (Nov – Feb) at 10 – 14 months of age, which gives an uneven and seasonally-locked harvest. Commercial Indian pineapple has moved almost universally to chemical flower induction — a spray of plant growth regulator onto the central leaf-whorl of 10 – 12-month-old plants that triggers synchronised flowering within 40 – 50 days, which pulls the harvest forward into targeted off-season (Jan – Mar or May – Jul) price slots and gives a uniform fruit size and maturity for processing. The three agents in common use are: (1) ethephon (2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid) 39% SL at 0.25 ml/L in water — the ICAR–IIHR / PRS Vazhakulam standard, now the most widely used on Kerala and Karnataka commercial blocks; the pot of plant releases ethylene inside the whorl which initiates flower primordia; (2) α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) at 25 ppm — the older PRS Vazhakulam recommendation, still used in NE smallholder blocks; (3) calcium carbide — 10 – 15 g of granular calcium carbide placed in the leaf whorl of each plant generates acetylene gas (an ethylene mimic) on contact with moisture; the traditional farmer-level alternative in Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya because the input cost is low and the agent is available locally. Irrigation is withheld for 10 – 14 days ahead of the spray to maximise the response, and the spray is applied in the cool early morning or evening. Harvest follows 150 – 180 days after induction, depending on variety.

What is the Vazhakulam Pineapple GI and the Kerala pineapple industry?

The Vazhakulam Pineapple is the Mauritius-variety pineapple grown in and around the Vazhakulam gram panchayat of Ernakulam district, Kerala, and the adjoining tracts of Muvattupuzha, Thodupuzha, Kothamangalam and parts of Idukki and Kottayam. It received Geographical Indication (GI) registration under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 — the application was filed by the Pineapple Growers Association of Kerala (PAK) and the registration was granted in 2009 as GI Tag No. 130. The Vazhakulam GI covers a Mauritius-type cylindrical-conical fruit of 1.3 – 1.8 kg with golden-yellow flesh, high sweetness (brix 14 – 16°), low acidity and a distinctive aroma profile that is attributed to the laterite-loam soils and the humid 1,800 – 2,500 mm rainfall of the Ernakulam-Idukki foothills. The Kerala pineapple industry is anchored by the Pineapple Research Station (PRS) Vazhakulam under the Kerala Agricultural University, which releases variety and agronomy packages and runs the ethephon flower-induction extension on the ~15,000-hectare Kerala pineapple footprint; the Pineapple Growers Association of Kerala coordinates farm-gate marketing and processing linkages; and processing units in Vazhakulam, Muvattupuzha and across the Kerala belt turn the Mauritius crop into juice, concentrate, canned slices, chunks, jam and dehydrated fruit for both domestic and APEDA Agri-Exchange-tracked export markets.

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