PINEAPPLE FARMING:

Other than merely growing and harvesting pineapple fruits, the pineapple farming industry necessitates a variety of other activities.
You should have a comprehensive pineapple farming business plan as a pineapple farmer so that it may serve as a roadmap for managing your company.
The strong flavor of the pineapple makes it one of the top 5 most popular fruits in West Africa. It can be consumed raw or used to make a variety of juices, including the well-known zobo beverage.

Benefits Of Pineapple For Health

Tropical fruits like pineapples are incredibly high in enzymes, vitamins, and antioxidants. They support the development of healthy bones, strengthen the immune system, and relieve indigestion.
Pineapples’ high vitamin C content lowers the risk of macular degeneration, an eye condition that affects people as they age.
Since pineapples contain a lot of bromelain, they also help to reduce excessive blood coagulation. Because of their high bromelain content, pineapples can also help to dry out throat and nasal mucus.

How to Start a Pineapple Farming Business Guide

I’ve heard people asking questions like ‘how do pineapple farms work?’ or feasibility study on pineapple farming and at the end of this article, I’m certain you won’t be left below anything other than satisfied.
Many websites have free PDF guide on pineapple farming in Nigeria and you might decide to download any of them if you need further help or contact us for a detailed business plan.
In starting a pineapple farm, the first thing a farmer should do is to choose a good soil. The best type of soil for planting pineapples is deep sandy loam though you can us any other type of soil so far it’s free of water logging conditions and organic matter is added to make it more fertile.

Although pineapples are fairly drought resistant, they perform best in areas with well distributed rainfall of at least 1, 000mm per annum. Thy enjoy humid weather conditions and prefer soils with good water retention ability.
Lands used for the cultivation of pineapples should be free of stumps and ploughed for the purpose of planting.

Propagation

You can either grow pineapples from the crown, sucker or by their slip. A pineapples sucker is a little plantlets that grows between the leaves of a mature pineapple.
Because pineapple plants mostly rely on their leaves for the water and nutrition they need, they can be planted in nurseries and transplanted to the main fields when they are about a foot tall.

Spacing

Pineapples should be planted in double row spacing and a space of:
• 60cm should be given between the rows
• 30cm should be given between the plants, and
• 60cm should be given between adjacent double rows
The propagules should be planted 7cm to 10cm deep on a levelled ground after which you can start the ridging.

Nutritional requirements

You can apply Nitrogen fertiliser at the rate of 50 kg per hectare by broadcasting and it should be after around one month after planting.

In addition, around 41kg to 670kg of fertiliser should be applied per hectare at three to six months interval before maturity.

Harvesting

Pineapples usually mature at 15-24 months after planting depending on the planting material used. It is preferable to cut the fruits rather than break them by the stalk.

Thanks for reading along, you can contribute by dropping a comment and also, don’t forget to share with your friends.