How to grow pineapple: If mango called the king of fruits, then surely the pineapple is the queen. The appearance and elegance all together demanded recognition pineapple as the queen of fruit. Researchers believe that pineapple originated in Brazil. Leading countries in pineapple production are Costa Rica, Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and India.
The juicy sweet smell of ripe pineapple touches the heart, increasing desire for eating. Pineapple is certainly a very fragrant, delicate and delicious fruit. Pineapple poisoning cough with fever. Pineapple plays an important role in the international market as a commercial fruit. Most of the pineapples produced in the world are processed.
Nutritional value
Pineapple is a good source of vitamins A, B, and C. Besides, it contains a significant amount of manganese, calcium, iron, phosphorus. Even after being stored in a tin, pineapple contains some amount of vitamins. On average, 3 percent sugar and 5 percent citric acid contain ripe pineapple.
Medicinal value
Ripe fruit tonic, expectorant, digestive, and antiperspirant. The unripe fruit is abortive. The fresh juice of ripe fruit contains a digestive juice called bromelin, which helps in digestion and is beneficial in jaundice. Juice of young fruit shells and leaves mixed with honey can protect against worms. It also serves as special food and medicine for fever.
Uses
Pineapple juice, slices, acid, squash, syrup, jam, jelly, pineapple vinegar, citric acid, calcium citrate, alcohol are world-famous. Moreover, wax and yarn are made from pineapple leaves.
How to grow pineapple
how to grow pineapple from seed
pineapple growing time
how long does it take to grow a pineapple
In this section, we’ll know the answer to the above questions
Propagation
Pineapple seeds are not grown under normal conditions. So pineapple is cultivated through different seedlings called sucker. Pineapple is usually propagated by side sucker, stem sucker, crown sucker and stem sucker. Among all these side sucker is best for commercial cultivation. Suckers are produced from different parts of the pineapple. All types of suckers can be used for cultivation.
Suckers can be obtained from the leaf cells, leaf cells near the ground, sides of the leafstalk, crown of the head or from the roots of the aged plant. However, the scientists concerned with pineapple said that the suckers from leaf cells are better. Pineapple plants usually produces different types of suckers. Side suckers, leafstalk suckers, crown suckers, root suckers or tamps. All kinds of suckers can be planted, but side suckers and root suckers are good.
Suitable Land and Soil
High land where and water do not stand, loamy and sandy loamy soils are quite suitable for pineapple cultivation. The soil has to be scrubbed with the ladder so that the rainwater does not accumulate in any place. 5 cm high and 5 meters wide bed should be made. There should be a gap of 50-100 cm between one bed and another.
The slopes of the mountains are very useful for pineapple cultivation. In order to cultivate pineapple on the slopes of the hill, the land should never be loosened by cultivating or chopping it with a spade. Because it has the potentiality of washing away fertile soil through erosion. In case of hill forest, weeds should be removed at the soil level and the land should be cleared to make suitable for planting suckers.
Sucker planting and fertilizer management
In order to get good quality yield, organic manure should be applied as much as possible on the pineapple cultivated land. The soil should be examined and fertilizer should be applied according to the type of soil. However, if organic manure is used, both the quality of the soil and the environment will be good. If there are cattle in the house, the cow dung may be collected from there.
If you do not have your own cattle, cow dung can be collected from the neighbors. Or you can use biofertilizers. In addition, if you want to get a good yield, you can use the landfill. It is possible to make garbage compost by digging holes around the house and leaving piles of garbage and fallen leaves there.
Suckers should be planted in one meter wide bed in two rows. Sucker to sucker distance should be 30 to 40 cm and line to line distance should be 50 cm. If the seedlings are taller, the aged leaves should be cut evenly with the exception of 30 cm. For pineapple cultivation on hill slopes, seedlings should be planted in rows horizontally along the slope along with the contour method or height.
Seedlings should never be planted in rows along the slope. This leads to soil erosion. In the slopes of the hill, the distance between rows to row is 5 cm in each pair of line and the distance sucker to sucker should be 20-25 cm. It requires 50 thousand suckers per hectare. After planting the suckers at the determined place, the roots should be well pressed. However, is not well calculated the distance in the mountainous area.
Relay crop
Another benefit of pineapple cultivation along with other benefits is the relay crop. You can cultivate ginger, soybean, mustard, taro, etc. with pineapple as relay crops. However, in this case, special care like regular weed removing, filling of gaps, application of fertilizers, pest management, etc. should be taken.
In the hilly areas, pineapple can grow inside the gardens of the various fruit trees. In hilly areas, it is usually 60 cm deep and 30 cm wide cultivation is best through terracing or contour method. Care must be taken during the preparation of land in hilly areas otherwise, the land will be eroded.
Fertilizer management
Well decomposed cow dung 300 gm, urea 35 gm, TSP 15 gm, MOP 35 gm, and gypsum 15 gm should be applied per plant. The fertilizer should be applied according to the number of suckers in the land. Cow dung, gypsum and TSP fertilizers should be mixed with the soil while making the bed. Urea and MOP fertilizers should be applied in 5-6 installments starting from 4-5 days after planting. Fertilizer should be sprinkled on the bed and mixed well with the soil.
Pineapple is a significant crop in hilly areas. Pineapple is planted on the slopes of the hillside by turning the line of contour beautifully. Fertilizer management in hilly areas is also different from flat land. Apply urea and TSP fertilizer at the rate of 10 gm per plant 15 cm away from the roots of the plant by the doubling method/pegging method two months after planting the suckers. Similarly, once the age of the tree is 3-5 months, the same dose is applied once more.
Irrigation and drainage
Irrigation in pineapple fields is very important during the dry season. In the rainy season, during heavy rains, drainage should be done by making the drain so that water does not log at the base of the plant. If the seedlings are taller, the upper leaves should be cut evenly leaving an amount of 30 cm. Weeds are very harmful to pineapple. So, pineapple land needs to be kept weed-free at all times.
Weeds should be removed at least twice a year. Once after collecting the fruits and the second time before the tree grows. Because when the plant will be shrubby, weeds cannot be removed, nor does it need to be removed. After the application of irrigation and fertilizer in the land, mulching keeps the land free from weeds. After mulching with weeds, it is once added to the soil as decomposed organic manure and thereby increases soil fertility.
Pest management
Pineapple is generally less invasive by pests. It is better to use locally produced organic pesticides if insects attack the farmland. However, if any need can be contacted for advice at an agricultural officer or agriculture office at the local agriculture extension directorate.
Harvesting
15-16 months after planting the seedlings have to be collected from the land. Honey Queen produces 25 to 30 metric tons and GiantQ produces 30 to 40 metric tons of pineapple in each hectare.
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Keyword: Best Way Of How To Grow Pineapple (Planting To Harvesting)