Pineapple Season In Pakistan: Why does pineapple season in Pakistan important? It is in high demand in both domestic and international markets. The fruit’s flesh is light yellow, practically fiber-less, very juicy, and has a unique flavor. Pineapples are one of the most widely cultivated fruits in the world, but only a fraction of their fruit is consumed as fresh fruit. In many countries, the entire crop is conserved for canning. The second-most valuable fruit in worldwide trade is canned pineapple. The country can make high-quality canned goods such as slices, beverages, chunks, and jams due to this pineapple season in Pakistan is considered to be important.
Cultivation and Climate
Soil, climate, rain, planting, and spacing are essential considerations in pineapple farming. Pineapples can be grown in a variety of soils, ranging from rich, red soils to poor, sandy, fertile soils. It is grown in the tropics on reddish or reddish-brown soils with iron oxide. Dark soils contain up to 22.94% ferric oxide, while it is only about 13.5 percent in Cuba, another newly established pineapple area. As a result, the soil must be thoroughly drained.
Its growth is hampered by a high concentration of volcanic ash, which blocks sunlight and prevents it from reaching the Earth’s surface. It frequently causes chloro-sis, a plant disease. It takes around 6–8 months to prepare the land. First, old pineapple plants are knocked to the ground and plowed into the soil to supply organic matter. The field is plowed again before planting. Fresh plowing or a combination of the two procedures might also be beneficial. Chemicals such as ammonium sulphate, potassium sulphate, and others are also used in some other countries. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, ammonium sulphate is used for manuring.
Planting
Slips, suckers, crowns, and stems are used to grow the pineapple plant. Suckers grow from the leaf just above or below ground level, while slips grow from the stem immediately below the fruit. Crowns grow from the upper half of the fruit. Crown takes 22-24 months to fruit, whereas slips and suckers take 18-20 months. The stem suckers are allowed to grow on the mother plant for 6–8 weeks after harvesting, before planting to produce well-developed planting material and so advance the first harvest of the new crop by 8–10 months.
Planting begins in March and continues until July in areas of the Balochistan Highlands in Sindh from March to April, in the Punjab Highlands from April to May, and in the NWFP from April to June. Early planting in the season is recommended with proper irrigation facilities. The fruit is harvested once it has reached maturity. Though the fruits are accessible all year, the peak season is from June until the middle of September. Within 24 to 48 hours, the fruit is picked and processed in a facility. In Asia, 50% of the crop is harvested in May and June, 40% from December to April, and the rest in October.
Pineapple season in Pakistan can increase the trade balance if more pineapple cultivating and harvesting facilities would improve.
