Introduction to Citrus Culture

1
Pineapples
2
World Production and Distribution

• World Production 14,853 x 1000mT
• Major countries
• Thailand (1,978)
• Philippines(1,635)
• India(1,100)

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World Production and Distribution

• Not produced commercially in Florida, low
  temperature
• Has been in the past, not competitive, long
  growing season, mealy bugs

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World Production and Distribution

• Widely dist. 30N-33S latitude
• Cant withstand freezing
• Temperature very important for growth, flowering.
• Optimum 32C for leaf, 29C for roots.

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World Production and Distribution

• Temperature and irradiance affect induction to
  harvest
• Ivory Coast (150 days)
• Madagascar (220 days)
• Australia (300 days)

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Origin and Botany

• New world origin, some debate include
• Amazon basin
• South Venezuela
• North Brazil
• Others say Paraguay, north Argentina

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Origin and Botany

• Named Piña by Columbus, 2nd, 1493
• Had been in cultivation many years pre-Colombian
  throughout Americas
• Moved to Africa 1550 and through rest of tropics

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Botany

• Family, Bromeliaceae - short-stemmed epiphyte,
  chromosome n25
• 45-50 genera, 1800-2000 species include Spanish
  moss
• (Tilandsia). Car seat packing
• Pineapple - Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.

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Botany

• Xerophytic, succulent, perennial monocot.
• CAM plant - fix CO2 at night to conserve water.
• Stored as malic acid (CO2) during day. Stomata
  open at night, low water losses.

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Growth and Development

• Seed only used in breeding of new cultivars -
  disease resistance.

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Growth and Development

• Pineapple grown from
• Slips - axil of floral bracts on peduncle
• Suckers - shoots from axillary buds on peduncle
• Crowns - top of plant

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Growth and Development

• Leaves develop around stem 5/13 phyllotaxy in
  rosette. 70-80/plant
• Stomata protected by trichomes underside of leaf
  (water conserving)

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Growth and Development

• Shallow roots also originating from stem, aid in
  uptake of water and nutrients
• Stem 30-35cm long, axillary buds at each node
  yield suckers and slips

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Growth and Development

• Flowering induced by cool temperatures, short
  days.
• Inflorescence 200-300 flowers, several flowers
  open each day 3-4 weeks (temperature-dependent).

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Growth and Development

• Flowering induced by cool temperatures, short
  days in subtropics
• Individual flower hermaphrodite,
• 6 stamens (2 whorls of 3)
• 3-carpellate inferior ovary-many ovules, usually
  no seeds in fruit.

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Growth and Development

• After flowering, apical meristem continues to
  grow into crown
• Usually 8 gentle slopping rows of flowers and 13
  steep around stem

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Growth and Development

• Fruit Characteristics
• Sorosis - syncarp of fused inferior ovaries,
  multiple fruit all from the same central axis,
  (blackberry is aggregate fruit, single ovaries)
• Consists of core, fruitlets, flesh, shell

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Growth and Development

• Fruit Characteristics
• Sigmoid growth - all cells developed before
  anthesis, growth by cell enlargement only
• Non-climacteric
• See handout 1(Fig. 12.7, pg. 303)

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Fruit

• Time from floral initiation to maturity 6-7 mos.
  TSS increases, TA decreases
• Composition (see Table 12.7, p. 326). Good
  source of K, vitamin C (variable), vitamin A
  (color), TSS also (handout 2)

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Cultivars

• Cayenne - cylindrical, shallow eyes, yellow
  flesh, good yields and taste, obviously smooth,
  processing
• Queen - spiny short leaves, smaller than Cayenne,
  used for fresh market, South Africa
• Spanish - generally not used in canning, deep
  eyes, poor flesh color, spiny, large core, grown
  in Caribbean

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Cultural Practices

• Soils - wide range if properly drained - black
  sands (volcanic), red soils.
• pH range 4.5-5.0, often heavy soils

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Cultural Practices

• Field prepared by plowing, often fumigated for
  nematodes (root knot and reniform)
• Problem less fumigants available

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Planting

• Planting by crown (smallest), slips, suckers
• Use same size planting material
• Smallest slowest growing plants.

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Planting

• Planting to harvest (months)
• Crown, 18-24
• Slip, 15-20
• Sucker 14-17 (Fig. 12.6, handout 3)

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Growth and Development

• Plant (1 mo.) - treat with fungicide-dry,
  15,000-75,000 plants/ha
• 30 cm between single rows, 60 cm between double
  rows

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Growth and Development

• Grow vegetatively for 10 mos.
• Forced chemically to flower (11-12 mos.)
  (described in next section)
• Red bud, flowering

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Fruit Development- Main Crop

• Fruit development of the initial, main crop from
  15-18 mos. after planting
• Climate dependent

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Fruit Development- Ratoon Crop

• Sucker development from 19-24 mos.
• Forcing from 25-26 months
• Red bud flowering from 27-28 months
• Fruit development from 29-32 mos.
• See handout ( Fig. 12.6)

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Nutrition and Fertilization

• Mainly needs N (225-350 kg/ha)
• K (225-450 kg/ha)
• P only in some areas

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Control of Flowering

• Time of harvest can be controlled by controlling
  flowering using ethylene gas (burn piles)

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Control of Flowering

• Apply ethephon or NAA to induce flowers.
• Ethephon produces flowers in 40-60 days.

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Control of Flowering

• Depends on temperature (lower), amount of
  N(less), stage of development at spraying
• Closer to natural induction more induction
• Helps to reduce number of harvests

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Yields

• Yields (4 kg/plant x 25,000 100,000 kg/ha
  100m T/ha)

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Diseases and Pests

• Diseases (see Table 12.4, pg. 317)
• Mealy bug-wilt - vectored by mealy bugs, plants
  are stunted, may be virus or phytotoxin. Cause
  unknown

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Pests

• Important - nematodes, major cause of yield
  reduction
• Fruit flies - Mediterranean, Oriental, melon

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Harvesting and Utilization

• Time depends on area of world, related to
  temperature and elevation

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Harvesting and Utilization

• Months to harvest, refer to previous example
• East London, South Africa, 33S, 125m, 24-36 mos.
• Wahiawa, Hawaii, 21N, 200m, 23 mos.
• Nyombe, Cameroon, 4.5N, 70m, 11 mos.

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Harvesting

• Takes several trips can be programmed by ethephon
  for flowering 40-60 days and ethephon to color 48
  hrs. before harvest
• Canning - harvested ½ - ¾ yellow
• Fresh - green to ¼ yellow - for transport

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Harvesting

• Procedure
• Harvested (cut) by hand, loaded in containers or
  onto conveyers
• Washed, waxed, packed
• Careful handling is essential

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Harvesting

• Standards
• Free of defects, mature, firm, 12 TSS ( total
  soluble solids)
• Crown must also be reasonable size, U.S. Fancy,
  No. 1, No. 2

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Storage

• Storage - 7.5-12C at 70-95 relative humidity
• Storage at 7C for 4 wks Chilling injury