TROPICAL & SUB-TROPICAL FRUITS : Pineapple

Pineapple is tropical fruit. It is a good source of Vitamin A and B and rich in Vitamin C and calcium. It contains phosphorus and iron. The fruit contains a special enzyme called ‘Bromelin’ which digests protein. Fruit is used for table purpose, preparations of juices, slices, tit bits, squash, jam, mixed jam, candy etc. Dried waste after extraction (pomace) is valuable cattle feed. Other byproducts are alcohol, calcium citrate, citric acid and vinegar. Leaves of pineapple are used for fibre preparation.

Fruit of pineapple is botanically called sorosis. Botanical name of pineapple is Ananas comosus and family is Bromeliaceae.

1. Climate: Pineapple is tropical fruit. It requires moderate temperature and high humidity. The optimum temperate range is 21⁰C to 23⁰C. At low temperature, no fruit bud differentiation takes place. A well-distributed rainfall of 150 c. m. per year is adequate.
   

2. Soil: Crop is grown on light to medium soils. Soils should be well drained. Sandy loams, laterites and slightly acidic soils with pH 5.5 to 6.00 are suitable for crop cultivation.

   Propagation: - Pineapple is propagated by vegetative method, suckers, slips, crown and disc are used for its multiplication. Slips are best for planting.

3. Planting: For planting rainy season is the best, planting is done at beginning of monsoon in dry region and at the end of the monsoon in high rainfall area. Planting is done either in flat beds or in shallow trenches. The planting distance in the single row system should be 25 x 60 x 90 cm and in double row system 25 x 30 x 90cm.
   

4. Manuring: Pineapple is heavy feeder. It requires 600 kg N, 400 kg P and 400kg K per ha. Nitrogen is given in two split doses, first at begining of monsoon and second in the month of February.
   

5. Harvesting and Yield: It matures in both 15 to 20 months after planting. Usually flowering takes place from February to April and fruits are ready from July to September. The fruits are harvested when they just become yellow. An average yield is 10 to15 tonnes per hectare.
   

6. Varieties:

   1. Gaint kew or kew:- It is one of the most important cultivars of Pineapple . It is ideal for canning industry. Flesh of the fruit is yellow, fibreless and juicy. The fruit is cylindrical in shape with average weight 1.9 kg . It is a late maturing variety.

   2. Queen :- It is the second important cultivar which is grown in our country. It is an early maturing variety, used as table variety. It is mostly grown in Bengal region. The fruits are small cylindrical, with average weight 1.2 kg. Fruit colour is golden yellow while the flesh is deep golden yellow

   3. Mauritius :- It is a mid season variety. Fruits of this variety are medium sized with yellow and red skin.

   4. Typhone No.1 andNo.3

   5. Red spanish

Fruit Culture

1. Fruit Culture: India has a wide variety of climate and soil on which a wide range of Tropical, Sub-tropical, Temperature and arid zone fruit crops can be grown in different regions.

The important advantages of fruit culture are :

1. From an unit of land comparatively more income is realised by growing fruits than growing any agronomic crop like wheat, rice, maize, etc.

2. Calorific value of food from an area of fruit is more than cereals e.g. banana is 16 times more than wheat.

3. Fruit farming is the bad rock of several industries like extracting of essential oil, pectin, production of spices, fruit preservation industries, etc.

4. Fruit culture provides employment to the rural people throughout the year.

5. Cultivation of fruit crops helps in maintaining ecological balance and checks the pollution.

6. Being rich in minerals and vitamins fruit crops assume great importance as nutritional security of the masses.

Based on the temperature requirements and response to different climatic conditions, fruit crops have been classified into three broad groups ;

1. Tropical

2. Sub-Tropical and

3. Temperate fruits.

1. Tropical Fruits – are those which do not endure severe cold but can tolerate warm temperatures of about 40 deg. Cent. These plants need strong sunshine, moderate warmth, fair degree of humidity and a very mild winder. They cannot stand frost or snow. Papaya, banana, pineapple, sapota and cashew belong to this group.

2. Sub-tropical Fruits – like oranges, guava, mango, litchi, pomegranate, fig and Amla are intermediate in character. They need warmth and moderate humidity and can also tolerate mild winters. These plants are versatile in their ability to stand extremes of rainfall, humidity, sunshine and mildly tolerant of winter upto frost stage.

3. Temperate Zone Fruits: are commonly found in cold regions enjoying a mild and temperature climate. These fruit trees endure cold and go to rest or dormancy by shedding off all their leaves during winter, apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot, Cherry, and grapes are examples of such fruits.

The above classification indicates the broad differences in climatic needs of various fruit plants. This does not necessarily mean that a plant belonging to one climatic zone does not grow in other zones. For instance, grape vine is a fruit which goes to dormancy in temperate regions and remains evergreen in sub-tropical regions. It is grown in both these climatic zones as a result of accumilization, cultural manupulations and breeding new varieties