Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
production to subtropical areas with mild climates beyond 30° N and S
latitudes and even under protective shelters. Pineapple cultivars show
considerable variation in their plant growth and fruit size when grown in
dif erent environments (Chan and Lee, 1985). Greater variation in cultivar
yield response occurs in less favourable environment.
Soil
Pineapple can be grown in a wide variety of soil types, with good drainage
and aeration being crucial. It is grown in the peat soils of Malaysia, sandy and
sandy-loam soils of Ivory Coast, Queensland, Australia and Oaxaca, Mexico,
and in the highly weathered red volcanic soils of Hawaii. The ideal soil type for
pineapple is a sandy or well-aggregated clay soil with good drainage to prevent
waterlogging and root diseases (Hepton, 2003).
In Hawaii, pineapple is grown primarily on silt loams, silty clay loams and
silty clays, primarily oxisols and ultisols. These soils are well suited to pineapple
because they occur in areas having high insolation, have good water-holding
capacity but are well aggregated, so drainage is adequate to very good. Most
of these soils are red in colour, are derived from basaltic rocks and volcanic
ash alluvium, and are high in oxides of iron, aluminium and, in some cases,
manganese. Soils with high levels of manganese can result in manganese-
induced iron chlorosis because soil pH is maintained around 4.5, which results
in high levels of soluble manganese in the soil solution. Generally, a pH range
of 4.5-5 is considered best for pineapple (Hepton, 2003), primarily to reduce
the incidence of heart and root rot caused by
Phytophthora
spp.
Climate
Rainfall
The pineapple is an obligate Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plant with a
xerophytic characteristic that enables it to withstand long periods of drought.
The leaves have a water-storage parenchyma that serves as a reservoir of
moisture during drought. The leaves are covered with trichomes and a highly
cutinized upper epidermis. The stomata are small and are located in furrows
on the underside of the leaf. At the early infl orescence development stage, 38%
of water use occurs at night when the stomata are open. At midday, no water
loss is detected. Water-use ei ciency is 3.3 times greater for pineapple than for
wheat (Bartholomew and Malézieux, 1994). Pineapples are produced under
a wide range of rainfall, from 600 mm to more than 3500 mm annually,
with the optimum for good commercial cultivation being from 1000 to 1500
mm. In Hawaii, pineapple is grown in areas where the rainfall ranges from
510 to 2540 mm, with an average of 1190 mm annually. Pan evaporation
