Mild tropical climate as found in the humid hill slopes is best suited.It can be grown in
plains under shade. Elevation from 500 m to 700 m is ideal. A light well drained soil with pH of
5.5 to 7.0 is preferable. Heavy soils can also be used if drainage facilities are available.
Plant in double rows either in beds or in trenches with the plants into the second rows
set in the middle of the plants in the first row. The spacing between two trenches will be 90
cm. Row to row spacing in the same bed per trench will be 60 cm and plant spacing within the
row is 30 cm.
Use suckers (500 – 750 g) and slips (350 – 450 g) for planting. Pineapple suckers are
allowed to dry at least for 30- 35 days before planting. To facilitate better rooting, it is
necessary to strip off the scale leaves from the basal portions of the planting materials. Give a
slanting cut to the suckers before planting and dip in Mancozeb 0.3 % or Carbendazim 0.1%.
FYM 40-50 t / ha. N 16 g, P 4 g and K 12 g / plant in two equal splits at 6th and 12th
month after planting. Apply as foliar spray 0.5% – 1.0 % Zinc sulphate and Ferrous sulphate at
15 days interval to overcome the deficiencies in the early crop phase.
To have uniform flowering, apply the following when the crop attains 35 – 40 leaf
stage. NAA 10 ppm + 2 % urea (20 g in 1 lit of water) @ 50 ml / plant poured into crown or 2
% urea + 0.04 % Sodium carbonate + 20 ppm Ethephon (ethrel) @ 50 ml / plant poured into
the crown. To increase the size of the fruit, 200 – 300 ppm NAA should be sprayed after fruit
formation. To avoid calcium induced Iron chlorosis, provide adequate shade. Mulching of
pineapple field with black polythene, followed by thatch grass/saw-dust gives better yield and
quality and suppresses the weed growth.
