UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA
ASSOCIATION OF RED-TIP OF PINEAPPLE LEAVES WITH NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY
VIJIANDRAN A/L JUVA RAJAH
FP 2007 14
ASSOCIATION OF RED-TIP OF PINEAPPLE LEAVES WITH NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY
By
VIJIANDRAN A/L JUVA RAJAH
Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science
August 2007
xix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page 1 The Red-tip Of Pineapple Leaves 9 2 Stages Of Red-tip Development on Pineapple Leaves 9 3 Nitrogen deficient plant at 145 DAP 34 4 Plant exhibiting severe nitrogen deficiency at 270 DAP 35 5 Plants exhibiting phosphorus deficiency at the initial stages at
150 DAP 36
6 Severe phosphorus deficiency exhibited at 270 DAP 37 7 A close up view of an older leaf deficient in phosphorus 37 8 Early symptoms of potassium deficiency, noted after 2nd
fertilisation 38
9 Severe deficiency of potassium at 270 DAP 39
10 General view of a plant deficient in potassium at 270 DAP 39
11 Plants deficient in calcium, after 2nd fertilisation 40
12 Plant deficient in calcium, after 4th fertilisation 41
13 A close look at magnesium deficient plants at 145 DAP 42
14 Plants deficient in sulphur after 2nd fertilisation 43
15 Close look at the red tip formed on sulphur deficient leaves at 150 DAP
43
16 Plants treated without the input of sulphur at 270 DAP with
some red-tip formations red-arrows) after the completion of the 4th fertilisation round.
44
17 Total number of leaves of plants for various treatments
compared at each period of sampling 50
xx
18 General Plant Height of various treatments compared at each period of sampling 52
19 Total number of leaves for T1 and T2 at various stages of
sampling 63
20 Mean leaf dry weight of T1 and T2 at various stages of sampling
64
21 Stem circumference of T1 and T2 at various stages of sampling 66
22 Mean Stem Dry Weight of T1 and T2 at various stages of
sampling 67
23 Red-tip percentage in the leaves of T1 and T2 at various stages
of sampling 69
24 Nitrogen uptake in D-leaf at different stages of plant growth 72
25 Phosphorus uptake in D-leaf in different stages of plant growth 72
26 Potassium uptake in D-leaf in different stages of plant growth 73
27 Calcium uptake in D-leaf in different stages of plant growth 73
28 Magnesium uptake in D-leaf in different stages of plant growth 74
29 Sulphur uptake in D-leaf in different stages of plant growth 74
30 Zinc uptake in D-leaf in different stages of plant growth 75
31 Copper uptake in D-leaf in different stages of plant growth 75
32 Manganese uptake in D-leaf in different stages of plant growth 76
33 Nitrogen uptake in stem at different stages of plant growth 81
34 Phosphorus uptake in stem at different stages of plant growth 81
35 Potassium uptake in stem at different stages of plant growth 82
36 Calcium uptake in stem at different stages of plant growth 82
37 Magnesium uptake in stem at different stages of plant growth 83
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38 Sulphur uptake in stem at different stages of plant growth 83
39 Zinc uptake in stem at different stages of plant growth 84
40 Copper uptake in stem at different stages of plant growth 84
41 Manganese uptake in stem at different stages of plant growth 85
42 Sampling areas of Pineapple leaf samples for microscopic work 94
43 Confocal Microscope view of the green area of pineapple leaves
99
44 Confocal Microscope view of the red-tip area of the pineapple
leaf. 99
45 Phloem region of green area magnified at 1000 X using the
Confocal Microscope 100
46 Phloem region of red-tip area magnified by 1000 X using the
Confocal Microscope 101
47 Sieve element cells of the phloem region of the green area under
the TEM at the magnification of 20 000X 103
48 Sieve element cells of the phloem region of the red-tip area
under the TEM at the magnification of 20 000X 103
49 Magnification of 60 000 X of the strange bodies found in the
sieve element cells in the red-tip area of the pineapple leaves. 104
50 Mycoplasma like organisms found in citrus likubin. Globular
structures marked with the yellow arrow 105
51 Mycoplasma like organisms of sweet potato witches’ broom.
Note the numerous bodies located in the sieve elements 105
ii
DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to :- Both my parents Mr. and Mrs. Juva Rajah-Punithavathy the souls responsible for what I am today My wife Christina Vijiandran who had shared all the wonderful and troubled moments of my life since the very first day we met To the contributors and potential contributors of any kind of knowledge that is beneficial to mankind and is as well in harmony with nature
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Abstract of thesis presented to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science
ASSOCIATION OF RED-TIP OF PINEAPPLE LEAVES WITH NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY
By
VIJIANDRAN A/L JUVA RAJAH
August 2007
Chairman: Associate Professor Ahmad Husni Mohd. Hanif, PhD,
Faculty: Agriculture
The red-tip of pineapple leaves which affected the Gandul variety was sighted in the early
1990’s in Peninsula Plantations, Simpang Renggam, Johore where it has been found that
about 10% or more of its leaves starting from the tip had turned red. It was speculated
that it was due to sulphur deficiency as a result of the change of nitrogen carriers from
ammonium sulphate to urea. This study was carried out with three main objectives: (i) to
investigate whether the red-tip problem is related to nutrient deficiency through Missing
Element Experimental Technique and thus identify the nutrients that are involved, (ii) to
investigate the effect of ammonium sulphate and urea as the nitrogen carriers on the red-
tip of pineapple leaves and also the plant performance in terms of vegetative growth and
fruit yield at field conditions and (iii) to examine and compare the cell structural
iv
differences between the normal (green) and infected (red-tip) part of the pineapple leaf
from cv. Gandul
The Missing Element experiment was carried out in the glasshouse to achieve the first
objective while the second objective was achieved through a field experiment in Simpang
Renggam, Johore. Further to the above experiments, the red-tip area and the green area of
the leaves were also viewed under a Confocal and Transmission Electron Microscope to
look for any differences between them at the cellular level which covered the third
objective of the study.
Visual observations of the plants from the first experiment could not reproduce the red-
tip as found in Simpang Renggam for all treatments including plants treated without the
input of sulphur though there was some occurrence of the red-tip in these plants at 150
days after planting (DAP). The deficiency symptom of other eliminated nutrients was
mostly similar to that reported in literature and there were no similarities seen compared
with the red-tip phenomenon. Vegetative growth variables studied from the destructive
sampling carried out at 180 and 300 days after planting showed significant differences
between treatments only at the later stage of plant growth, the second stage of sampling.
The first experiment indicated that sulphur deficiency was not the primary cause for the
occurrence of the red-tip phenomenon in the pineapple leaves.
Plants grown in the field from both treatments, i.e. plants fertilised with ammonium
sulphate as nitrogen fertiliser (Treatment 1, T1) and plants fertilised with urea as nitrogen
v
fertiliser (Treatment 2, T2) did not show any significant differences between them in
terms of vegetative growth, plant nutrient uptake, soil nutrient concentrations and yield.
There were also no significant differences between T1 and T2 in the red-tip percentage at
all sampling periods except one but further soil and plant nutrient analysis did not show
any significant differences. Besides that, the uptake trend of the macro and micro
nutrients was also not significant for both treatments and the levels had indicated healthy
growth for both treatments. The sulphur and other nutrient concentrations for plant and
soil were well above the critical point for deficiency to occur and the continuous
occurrence of red-tip in plants treated with input of ammonium sulphate gave a doubt
whether sulphur is the main cause of the phenomenon. The insignificant yield between
the two treatments had further increased the doubt. The second experiment had further
strengthened that the deficiency of sulphur is not the cause of the red-tip in the pineapple
leaves.
With the above findings, observations carried out using the Confocal Microscope of both
the green and red-tip area of the pineapple leaves revealed the presence of some
blockages in the phloem cells of the red-tip area which was not found in the green area.
Further magnification of this area using the Transmission Electron Microscope revealed
presence of some globular structures in the sieve element cells of the red-tip area similar
to the infection of Mycoplasma Like Organisms (MLO). The presence of these structures
had most likely blocked the movement of nutrients through sieve element cells thus
causing the disintegration of chlorophyll to anthocyanin causing the red-tip of pineapple
leaves. However further trials are needed to confirm this speculation.
vi
The study had given an understanding that the red-tip phenomenon is not caused by the
deficiency of sulphur or any other plant nutrients but due to the presence of the globular
structures in leave cells which may be MLO.
vii
Abstrak tesis yang dikemukakan kepada Senat Universiti Putra Malaysia sebagai memenuhi keperluan untuk ijazah Master Sains
ASSOCIATION OF RED-TIP OF PINEAPPLE LEAVES WITH NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY
Oleh
VIJIANDRAN A/L JUVA RAJAH
Ogos 2007
Pengerusi : Profesor Madya Ahmad Husni Mohd Hanif, PhD
Fakulti : Pertanian
Fenomena hujung merah daun nanas yang telah menjangkiti varieti Gandul telah ditemui
pada awal 1990an di Peninsula Plantations, Simpang Renggam, Johor dimana 10% atau
lebih daripada daunya telah berubah menjadi merah bermula dari hujungnya. Spekulasi
yang dijangka adalah kekurangan sulfur disebabkan oleh perubahan pembawa nitrogen
dari ammonium sulfat kepada urea. Kajian ini telah dijalankan dengan tiga objektif utama
iaitu (i) untuk mengkaji sama ada masalah hujung merah daun berkaitan dengan
kekurangan nutrien melalui Teknik Eksperimen Pelupusan Nutrien dan seterusnya
mengenalpasti nutrien yang mempengaruhinya, (ii) untuk mengkaji kesan ammonium
sulfat and urea sebagai pembawa nitrogen pada hujung merah daun nanas serta prestasi
tumbuhan dari segi pertumbuhan vegetatif serta hasil dalam keadaan lapangan dan (iii)
viii
untuk mengkaji serta membandingkan perubahan struktur sel diantara bahagian biasa
(hijau) dan yang dijangkiti (hujung merah) daun nanas cv. Gandul.
Eksperimen untuk Pelupusan Nutrien telah dijalankan di Rumah Kaca, untuk memenuhi
objektif pertama, manakala objektif kedua kajian ini dicapai melalui satu ekperimen di
lapangan di Simpang Renggam, Johor. Tambahan kepada kedua-dua eksperimen tersebut,
bahagian hujung merah serta bahagian hijau daun nanas telah diperhatikan di bawah
Mikroskop ‘Confocal’ dan Transmisi Elektron untuk melihat perbezaan diantara kedua-
dua bahagian tersebut diperingkat selular untuk memenuhi objektif ketiga.
Pemerhatian visual pokok-pokok yang ditanam untuk eksperimen pertama, tidak boleh
menghasilkan hujung merah seperti yang diperhatikan di Simpang Renggam terutamanya
pokok-pokok yang dirawat tanpa input sulfur meskipun terdapat sedikit pembentukan
hujung merah pada pokok-pokok tersebut iaitu 150 hari selepas penanaman. Simptom
kekurangan bagi nutrien lain yang diperhatikan telah menunjukan pemerhatian yang sama
seperti dalam literatur dan tidak mempunyai persamaan dengan fenomena hujung merah.
Parameter-parameter pertumbuhan vegatatif yang dikaji daripada persampelan
pemusnahan yang dijalankan pada 180 dan 300 hari selepas penanaman hanya
menunjukan perbezaan rawatan yang bererti pada peringkat lewat pertumbuhan tanaman,
iaitu pada peringkat persampelan yang kedua. Eksperimen pertama menunjukkan
kekurangan sulfur bukan punca utama yang membawa kepada fenomena hujung merah
didalam daun nanas.
ix
Pokok-pokok yang ditanam dilapangan daripada kedua-dua rawatan iaitu pokok-pokok
yang dibaja dengan ammonium sulfat sebagai baja nitrogen (Rawatan 1, T1) dan pokok-
pokok yang dibaja dengan urea sebagai baja nitrogen (Rawatan 2, T2) tidak menunjukkan
sebarang perbezaan bererti diantara mereka dari segi pemerhatian pertumbuhan vegetatif,
pengambilan nutrien oleh pokok, kepekatan nutrien di dalam tanah serta hasil
pengeluaran. Tiada sebarang perbezaan bererti diantara rawatan T1 dan T2 dalam peratus
hujung merah yang pada semua tempoh persamplen kecuali satu dimana pemerhatian
lanjutan dengan analisis tanah dan nutrien tanaman yang tidak menunjukkan perbezaan
yang beerti. Selain itu, tren pengambilan nutrient makro dan mikro juga tidak
menunjukkan sebarang perbezaan yang bererti diantara kedua-dua rawatan serta
menunjukkan pertumbuhan pokok yang sihat. Tahap kepekatan sulfur dan nutrien lain
didalam pokok serta tanah telah melebihi tahap kritikal untuk membolehkan masalah
kekurangan nutrien berlaku serta kewujudan hujung merah berterusan pada pokok-pokok
yang diberi input ammonium sulfat telah mewujudkan suatu kesangsian sama ada sulfur
adalah penyebab utama fenomena tersebut. Hasil pengeluaran yang tidak bererti bagi
kedua-dua rawatan tersebut turut menambah kesangsian ini. Eksperimen kedua telah
memperkuatkan pendapat bahawa kekurangan sulfur bukan merupakan punca kejadian
fenomena hujung merah pada daun nanas.
Pemerhatian dengan Mikroskop ‘Confocal’ untuk kedua-dua bahagian hujung hijau dan
merah daun nanas, telah menunjukkan kehadiran sedikit sumbatan di sel-sel floem pada
bahagian hujung merah daun dimana sumbatan sebegini tidak wujud dibahagian hijau
daun. Pembesaran lanjut bahagian ini dengan menggunakan Mikroskop Transmisi
x
Elektron pula menunjukkan kehadiran sedikit struktur berbentuk globular di sel-sel
elemen penapis pada bahagian hujung merah yang mempunyai persamaan seperti
jangkitan Organisma Seperti Mikoplasma (MLO). Kewujudan struktur sebegini
diramalkan telah menghalang perjalanan nutrien melalui sel elemen penapis yang
seterusnya membawa kepada perubahan klorofil kepada antosianin yang seterusnya
menyebabkan hujung merah daun nanas. Walaubagaimanapun kajian yang lebih lanjut
diperlukan untuk mengesahkan spekulasi ini.
Kajian ini telah memberi suatu pemahaman bahawa fenomena hujung merah tidak
dipengaruhi oleh kekurangan sulfur atau nutrien-nutrien pokok lain tetapi disebabkan
oleh kewujudan struktur globular didalam sel-sel daun yang berkemungkinan jangkitan
MLO.
xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I would like to thank the Almighty for the inner motivation and strength
poured into me throughout the duration of this study. My deepest gratitude also goes to
my beloved parents, Mr and Mrs Juva Rajah and my loving wife Christina for boosting
my confidence and providing me the push to complete this thesis. I also would like to
thank my siblings Navindran and Thaneswary for all the support during the tough times
encountered while completing this thesis. To all my family members, thank you for your
constant support given to me in one way or another especially to cousins George Wong
and Kalyani for the trouble taken to edit this thesis at the initial stages and my nephews
Sudesh and Previnash for recreating the smile in my face when the going gets tough.
My sincere appreciation goes to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Husni who had given me all the
guidance, advice, help and support needed all through the duration of the study besides
having the confidence in me. The contributions on Assoc. Prof Dr. Aminuddin Husin and
Assoc. Prof . Dr. Mahmud Tengku Muda on their various field of expertise is also deeply
acknowledged. The help rendered by Puan Sarimah, En. Junaidi, Madam Suleka, Mr. Ho
and other staffs of both the Department of Land Management especially Soil Fertility Lab
2 and the Microscopy Unit, Institute of Bioscience is never forgotten. A big thank you to
Dr. Osumanu Haruna Ahmed for all his help, guidance and brotherly advice given to me
all these years I had known him. I would also like to appreciate the management of
Peninsula Plantations Sendirian Berhad especially to Mr. Koh Tsu Koon for allowing us
xii
to carry out our experiment in the estate and also for the supply of planting materials and
media needed for the study. Their kind hospitality given to us during all our visits to the
estate is also deeply appreciated.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my employers’, United Plantations
Berhad for the employment during the needy times of which it had gave me the financial
strength to complete my studies. Last but not least to each and every individual who
helped me in one way or another in completing this study.
xiii
APPROVAL
I certify that an Examination Committee has met on 28 August 2007 to conduct the final examination of Vijiandran a/l Juva Rajah on his Master of Science thesis entitled "Association of Red-tip of Pineapple Leaves with Nutrient Deficiency" in accordance with Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Higher Degree) Act 1980 and Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Higher Degree) Regulations 1981. The Committee recommends that the student be awarded the relevant degree. Members of the Examination Committee are as follows: Mohd Khanif Yusop, PhD Professor Department of Land Management Faculty of Agriculture Universiti Putra Malaysia (Chairman) Samsuri Abdul Wahid, PhD Lecturer Department of Land Management Faculty of Agriculture Universiti Putra Malaysia (Internal Examiner) Ganesan Vadamalai, PhD Lecturer Department of Plant Protection Faculty of Agriculture Universiti Putra Malaysia (Internal Examiner) Mohammad Selamat Madom, PhD Unit Head Planting Material, Seed and Livestock Breed Production Unit Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (External Examiner)
________________________________ HASANAH MOHD GHAZALI, PhD Professor/Deputy Dean School of Graduate Studies Universiti Putra Malaysia
Date:
xiv
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the thesis is based on my original work except for quotations and citations which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted for any other degree at UPM or other institutions.
_________________________
VIJIANDRAN JUVA RAJAH
Date: 12 December 2007
xv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
DEDICATION iiABSTRACT iiiABSTRAK viiACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiAPPROVAL xiiiDECLARATION xivTABLE OF CONTENTS xvLIST OF TABLES xviiiLIST OF FIGURES xix
CHAPTER
I INTRODUCTION 1
II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 3 Background of the Pineapple Industry 3 Pineapple Cultivation in Malaysia 4 The Pineapple Plant 4 The Pineapple Leaves 6 Red-tip of Pineapple Leaves 8 Essential Plant Nutrient Elements and It’s Effect on the Growth
of Pineapples 10 Nitrogen 11 Phosphorus 13 Potassium 14 Calcium 16 Magnesium 17 Sulphur 18 Peat Soils 19 Physical Characteristics of Peat 20 Chemical Characteristics of Peat 22 Fertility of Peat Soils 23 Mycoplasma Like Organisms 26
III INVESTIGATION OF THE RED TIP OF PINEAPPLE LEAVES THROUGH MISSING ELEMENT EXPERMENTAL TECHNIQUE 28
Introduction 28 Objective 28 Materials and Methods 29 Location of Experimental Site and Planting Materials Used 29 Experimental Designs and Treatments 30 Fertilisation Scheme 31 Sampling and Data Recording 32
xvi
Results and Discussion 33 Visible Nutrient Deficiency Symptoms 33 First Destructive Sampling 45 Second Destructive Sampling 46 Vegetative Growth Comparison 48 Conclusion 54
IV COMPARISON ON THE EFFECTS OF AMMONIUM SULPHATE AND UREA ON THE RED TIP OF PINEAPPLE LEAVES IN FIELD CONDITIONS 55
Introduction 55 Objective 55 Materials and Methods 56 Experimental Location 56 Fertilisation 56 Sampling 57 Variables Recorded 58 Plant Samples Preparation 58 Soil Samples Preparation 59 Plant Parts and Ash Analysis 59 Soil Chemical Analysis 61 Statistical Analysis 62 Results and Discussion 62 Total Leaves 62 Leaf Dry Weight 64 Stem Circumference 65 Stem Dry Weight 66 Red-tip Percentage 68 Plant Nutrient Concentrations and Uptake 69 Soil Nutrient Concentrations 86 Yield 90 Conclusion 91
V OBSERVATION OF THE RED-TIP OF PINEAPLLE LEAVES UNDER CONFOCAL AND TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE 93
Introduction 93 Objective 93 Materials and Methods 94 Sample Preparation 94 Results and Discussion 98 Confocal Microscope Observations 98 Transmission Electron Microscope Observations 101 Conclusion 106
xvii
VI SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 107
BIBLIOGRAPHY 109 BIODATA OF THE AUTHOR 114
xviii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page 1 Range and average percentage of important elements in organic
soils. 25
2 Nutrient content of peat used as planting medium for the
Missing Element Experiment 29
3 Treatments for Missing Element Experimental Technique 31 4 Effect of treatments on total leaves production, leaf dry weight,
stem dry weight and stem circumference at first destructive sampling
45
5 Effect of treatments on total leaves production, leaf dry weight,
stem dry weight and stem circumference at second destructive sampling
47
6 Fertilisation programme for T1 and T2 57 7 Mean Nutrient Content in D-leaves at various Stages of
Sampling for T1 and T2 71
8 Mean Nutrient Content in Stem at various Stages of Sampling
for T1 and T2 80
9
Nutrient concentrations in soil samples at 0 – 25 cm depth at various stages of sampling for T1 and T2
87
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Pineapples (Ananas comosus), originated from South America (Othman and
Subhadrabanthu, 1995; Barthlomew and Malézieux, 1994), like many other crops in
Malaysia, have been domesticated, improved and developed since pre-historic times,
often with no records of agronomy (Othman and Subhadrabanthu, 1995). Originated from
the Bromiliaceae family, the cultivation of pineapples in Malaysia is rather unique as it is
cultivated largely on peat (Ahmed et al., 2002). In Malaysia, the crop is planted in an area
of 6400 hectares (2003) for both ‘Table’ consumption and canning. Seventy eight percent
of the total area is under pineapple estates while the balance belongs to small holders.
Over the last few years, the production of canned pineapples in Malaysia has decreased.
Malaysia was producing 189,700 tonnes of fresh fruit in 1991 at its peak and dropped to
73,500 tonnes (forecast) in 2003. Most of the pineapples were produced by the estates
which accounted between 77 to 92 percent of total country production from 1990 to
2003. The decrease in the production is mainly due to the reduction of planting areas
especially among the small holders where the area decreased by about 30% over the same
period mentioned above (AGRIQUEST 2006).
Pineapple planted in Malaysia serves two main purposes, ‘Table’ consumption and
canning. The Sarawak pineapple, which originated from the Cayenne variety and Morris
from the Queen variety are commonly planted for ‘Table’ consumption while the Gandul
and Masmerah from the Spanish variety for canning purposes (Selamat and Ramlah,
2
1993). The Gandul, which is largely planted in the Johore area, has been selected for its
good yielding even though there are several shortcomings (Selamat and Abdul ,1996).
Over the years, numerous researches have been carried on the pineapple fruit and the
plant itself with the aim of improving the yield thus increasing the income of farmers and
making the industry profitable. In addition to that, various studies have been also been
carried out to control diseases and pests infecting the plants such as mealy bug wilt
(Dysmicoccus brevipes) the common pineapple pest. Recently, a new problem had arisen
which has affected the gandul variety called red-tip of pineapple leaves.
The red-tip phenomenon was first sighted in Peninsula Plantations and speculations were
that it was caused by nutrient deficiency. It is believed that this phenomenon had caused a
reduction in yields which is an effect of nutrient deficiency which led to this study. This
study was aimed to look into the red-tip of pineapple leaves in the nutrient point if view
with three main objectives, (i) to investigate whether the Red-tip problem is related to
nutrient deficiency through Missing Element Experimental Technique, (ii) to investigate
the effect of both ammonium sulphate and urea as the nitrogen carriers on the red-tip of
pineapple leaves and also plant performance in terms of vegetative growth and fruit yield
under field conditions and (iii) To examine and compare the cell structural differences
between the normal (green) and infected (red-tip) part of the pineapple leaf from cv.
Gandul.
3
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Background of The Pineapple Industry
Pineapple is one of the 45 genera and 2000 species available in the Bromeliaceae family
(Nakasone and Paull, 1998). Originated from South America and has been well
developed and now its world trade is dominated by the canned fruit. The world pineapple
production fluctuated between 38 000 to 52 000 million standard cases (4,516 pineapples
per standard case) from 1990 to 2002. Thailand and Philippines continued to lead the
world in total canned pineapple export, accounting for 44.6% and 14.5% respectively
(AGRIQUEST, 2006).
Pineapple has been the oldest agricultural export sector in Malaysia but unfortunately it
never really took off and had always been a subsidiary crop for the country. The export of
this product by Malaysia however decreased significantly from 6% in 1990 (41 300
standard cases) to 2.6% in 2003 which accounts for 38 170 standard cases
(AGRIQUEST, 2006). The area under pineapple crop in Malaysia is decreasing steadily
in recent years as the growers shift to more profitable and less intensive crops. But the
decrease is all among the smallholdings because the nature of the industry makes the
estate area more resistant to change, as most estate owners are also owners of the canning
factories. Another reason for the drop in the area is clearly seen in the price of pineapple.