Pineapple plantations can be the regular source of income if someone maintains them properly. This is one of the preferable fruits and ranks after mango. Pineapple is prickly on the outside and delicious on the inside. The fruit is native to Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. Pineapples grow abundantly in Bihar, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, and North-Eastern India.
Pineapple farming requires various tools, which play an indispensable role in the processing of agriculture. Tractors, implements, and harvesters are the main in cultivation; Hence, we suggest the Mahindra Arjun 605 tractor, and john deere 5310 tractor, which is better for increasing efficiency in the field.
Pineapple Cultivation Process
Below, we describe all essential information for those who want to know about pineapple cultivation to get the best yield from this crop. Let’s look at the pineapple growing process.
Season of Pineapple Farming
Ideally, farmers plant pineapples 12-15 months before the flowering season. The flowering season of pineapple farming comes between December to March. It varies between regions. Generally, planting time depends on the rainfall, onset of the monsoon, its intensity etc. Farmers plant it during April-June in Karnataka and Kerala, while in Assam, it is done from August to October. They avoid the cultivation of pineapple during heavy rains.
Climate For Pineapple Plantation
A humid climate with adequate rainfall is ideal for pineapple planting. This kind of climate is found in the coastal areas. Farmers should use the ideal temperature that is between 22⁰C to 32⁰C. While leaves thrive optimally at 32⁰C, roots grow well at 29⁰C.
Pineapple crops do not thrive at temperatures below 20⁰C and above 36⁰C. There must be a difference of 4⁰C between day and night temperatures. However, the highest temperatures at night are not desirable for this fruit. Although adequate rainfall is well suited for pineapple, it grows best in 100–150 cm of rain.
Soil for Pineapple Cultivation
Farmers can grow pineapple well in any soil, although sandy loam is ideal. However, farmers should take well-drained soil, which is the most basic requirement for pineapple cultivation.
They can also grow in heavy soils because it offers good drainage capacity. However, waterlogged soil is not recommended for pineapple cultivation. Alluvial and laterite are other soil types that are suitable for planting pineapples. Pineapple fruit requires slightly acidic soil with a pH between 5.5 to 6.0.
Water for Pineapple Cultivation
Farmers cultivate pineapple fruit in coastal areas and places where rainfall is plenty. Therefore, they do not need irrigation for it. However, supplemental irrigation helps in producing good-sized fruits if cultivated on a commercial scale.
In addition, irrigation helps in off-season planting. It also ensures the production of pineapples throughout the year. This practice is followed to generate export-quality pineapples. If farmers grow pineapple in areas with low rainfall with hot climates, they should irrigate once in two weeks.
Land Preparation for Pineapple Cultivation
Farmers cultivate the pineapples in trenches. First, you should remove earthen lumps, rocks, crop debris, and stones. After plowing, the land is dug up and then leveled. After this, the trench is dug. Farmers can choose each tranche 90 cm wide and 15-30 cm deep. And generally, they choose August to October or April to May as the best time to avoid the harvest duration of the rainy season.
Pineapple Planting
Unlike other crops, you can propagate pineapple by crown, sucker, and slip. Therefore, farmers use planting materials in pineapple cultivation such as crown, slip, and sucker. Flowering occurs in the crown 19-20 months after plantation, whereas in slip and sucker, flowers appear 12 months after plantation.
Farmers use the planting material for cultivation at 5-6 months old. Typically, they use suckers and slips for commercial purposes because the crown takes a long time to flower. They should use material of uniform size. Farmers plant the slip and suckers in previously dug and prepared trenches.
Intercultural Operations in Pineapple Plantation
Various intercultural operations such as mulching, crowns, weeding, earthing, removing slips and ratoon crops are practiced in pineapple farming.
Earthing up is an important part of pineapple cultivation that aims at providing good anchorage to the plants. This involves pushing the soil from the ridge into the trench, where trench planting is common. Since pineapple roots are very shallow, the plant eventually lodges under conditions of flat-bed planting, especially in areas with heavy rainfall.
Keeping plants while fruits are developing will result in unilateral growth, uneven growth, and fruit ripening. This action becomes more important in ratoon crops, as the base of the plant varies from crop to crop. High-density planting is needed for this operation, as the pineapple plants keep each other from living.
Diseases and Plant Protection in Pineapple Cultivation
On the contrary, in various other crops, pineapples in India are not prone to too many diseases. However, scale insects and stem rot infestations are likely to occur in pineapple cultivation. Dipping suckers in Bordeaux mix before planting and a good drainage system takes care of stem rot and other fungal diseases.
Nutrient, Manures and Fertilizer Management in Pineapple Crop
Pineapple is a shallow feeder with high potassium and nitrogen requirements. Since these nutrients are prone to heavy losses in the soil, practices related to the form of fertilizer and timing of application determine their efficient use. Experts recommend giving N and K2O at 12 grams per plant based on research conducted at various places. However, if the soil is poor in P, 4 g of P2O5 plant can be applied.
You should apply the nitrogen in 6 split doses. You can give the first dose of N in 2 months after planting and the last dose in 12 months after planting. Farmers should lay the potash in 2 split doses.
Full P and half dose of K can be given at the time of planting, and the remaining K can be given 6 months after planting. Fertilizer should be used in rainfed conditions when moisture is available.
Harvesting and Yield of Pineapples
These plants flower 12 to 15 months after planting and are fruit ready 15-18 months after planting. The flowering depends on prevailing temperature and time of planting, variety during fruit development, type, and size of plant material. Under natural conditions, pineapple comes for harvesting during May-August. The fruits usually ripen about 5 months after flowering—irregular flowering results in long spreading cuttings.
Farmers harvest the fruits for canning purposes when there is a slight change in the base of the developing fruit. The fruits used for table purposes are kept intact till they turn golden yellow. Post-harvest plant crops can be kept as rattan crops for three to four years, depending on soil conditions. Ratooning in high-density plantings shows that the average fruit weight in the first and second rations is 88% and 79% of the plant crop, respectively. The plant stand also gradually decreases, resulting in a reduction of fruit yield by 49 and 46% (approximately), respectively.
In this farming process, we should consider the better equipment in farming, so choose such a tractor that is effective in agriculture. So you can choose the massey tractor 241 tractor as the best tractor in this way, you can also choose the john deere 5065e tractor. The tractors are managed our fieldwork time and did work properly. It makes easy our farming work.
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