Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Origin and distribution
The pineapple was fi rst seen by Europeans when Columbus and his men
landed on the island of Guadaloupe during the second voyage in 1493. Early
exploration by botanists in South America indicated the area of origin to be
south-eastern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina, because of the
abundance of wild species. Based on materials collected in South America,
Leal and Antoni (1980) proposed an area further north, between 10° N and
S latitudes and 55-75° W longitude. This general area includes north-western
and eastern Brazil, all of Colombia and Guyana, and most of Venezuela.
At the time of Columbus's arrival, the pineapple was already widely
distributed throughout most of tropical America. The antiquity of this fruit
even at that time is evidenced by the presence of distinct types, all of which
were nearly or completely seedless. Its wide uses as food, wine and medicine
at the time of Columbus's arrival in the Americas and the absence of
recognizable wild progenitors of the cultivated pineapple are further evidence
of pineapple's antiquity (Collins, 1948). Distribution of pineapple from the
Americas is attributed to Spanish and Portuguese explorers and was aided by
the resistance of crowns and slips to dessication. Pineapple was introduced
into Africa at an early date and reached southern India by l550. Before the
end of the l6th century, it had become established in China, Java and the
Philippines (Collins, 1949).
At least 79 countries in the tropics and subtropics produce measurable
quantities of pineapple (
http://www.fao.org,
2008). Yields (kg/ha) are highly
variable and, for those countries producing more than 5000 MT, range
from 8 t/ha in Nigeria to 47 t/ha in Australia. This great variation in yields
results from a number of factors. Small farms in countries that use the best
technology tend to have higher yields than do large plantations utilizing the
same technology, because in-fi eld losses are easier to control on the small farm.
Yields, on average, are much lower in developing countries, where access to
inputs is limited by lack of capital. The exception occurs when a multinational
corporation establishes a plantation in a developing country where labour
costs are low. Cultivar dif erences also contribute to variations in yields. Where
the predominant cultivars are 'Smooth Cayenne' and the Pineapple Research
Institute of Hawaii hybrid clones 73-50 and 73-114 (also known as MD-2,
'Gold Extra Sweet', MG-3 and 'Mayan Gold'), yields are higher, probably more
than twice as high even with the best technology, than are the spiny-leaved
'Queen' and 'Spanish' cultivars (Table 12.1). Prevailing climate also has a
moderating ef ect on yields, with yields at the same level of technology being,
on average, lower in the warm tropics than at higher latitudes.
