Pineapple Production

Abstract

The pipeapple ( Ananas comosus(L.) Merr.) is indigenous to the area covering central and southern Brazil, Northern Argentina and Paraguay (4, 6). Seedless clones were selected by the Indians and were widely distributed through tropical America, even before the discovery of the New World (6). Today, the pineapple has become a commercial fruit of great importance in many tropical countries. Before 1950, Hawaii contributed approximately 70% of the world production of processed pineapples (1). Contribution to the world market from Hawaii has steadily declined to less than 36% as other countries increased their production. The Ivory Coast of Africa, Kenya, South Africa, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia and Mexico began to increase their contributions to the world market. In 1974 Hawaii's pineapple acreage was approximately 22,800 ha which produced 9.4 million cases of canned fruits (2).