Adventures in Agriculture Education: Pekan Nanas: Our Visit to Pineapple Town!

You would have thought we were in Hawaii yesterday as we made a much-anticipated visit to a Pineapple Farm! Our Malaysian counterparts thought it was so funny that we were excited to visit a pineapple farm until they learned that the only state that grows pineapples in the United States is Hawaii. Nonetheless, energy was high as we drove through a palm plantation to reach the Ministry of Agriculture's Pineapple Research and Development farm of 300 acres.

As we stepped off the bus, we received some awesome information that would help set the stage for our visit. The purpose of this farm is to produce "seeds" that are sold to farmers (more on a "seed" later). Additionally, this farm works with different varieties of pineapples from neighboring nations to determine which pineapples can be grown successfully in Malaysia that meet the strict demands for the export market (again, more on that story later). When planting pineapples, the planting density is 15,000-17,000 pineapples per acre.

Pineapple "seeds" ready to be
removed and sold to farmers
for $0.50 each

We started our tour by viewing a pineapple patch that had just been burned. After a crop has been harvested, the method of preparing a field for replanting is by burning the remaining plant material. We asked about any mechanical methods of removal (plowing, tilling, etc) to prepare the field and quickly learned that the soil for growing pineapples is peat, a very soft silt (I had never seen peat before, but while walking on the fields, it felt like a squishy rug). Needless to say, equipment would not be practical, so this is a very labor-intensive planting and harvesting process. The soil is also very acidic (3.75-4.5) and no soil amendments are needed to raise/lower the pH--we are told the pineapples love acidic soils.

Demonstration of how crowns
are quartered. All by hand.

Our tour continued past fields of pineapples in various stages of development, but our next stop was to view the seed development process. The pineapples grown for seed development have their crowns removed, and trimmed down to a 3-4 inch piece. This piece is then "quartered" to expose the inner portion of the crown that has plant cells that will continue to develop once planted. These quarters are planted and allowed to grow for 4 months. Once the growing crown is 4 months old, it is considered a "seed" that can be sold to local pineapple farmers. I asked the question, "Can a farmer retain the crowns from their own pineapple crop to create next year's crop?" (Essentially keeping seeds for themselves). I asked this question to determine if the pineapple genetics and seed development process was the property of the seed breeder like it is in the United States. I was told farmers can keep their crowns to grow their own seeds, but it is management decision depending upon available labor.

We learned the following quick facts while walking to the pineapple variety demonstration area.

So many pineapple statues in Pekan
Nanas (Pineapple Town!)

Once a pineapple seed is planted, it takes 14-16 months to harvest a pineapple (remember the seed was 4 months old)
Pineapples can go without water for 3 months
Once a pineapple has created a fruit, you can remove the "suckers" and replant them to grow a new pineapple plant (again, a management decision)
For export to the United States, the crown of the pineapple can only be 10 inches tall.

Interesting Fact: The main reason that pesticides are applied to pineapples are to keep the crowns in perfect condition for the export market.
We were told that if the United States and other countries would change their policies, nearly no pesticides would be needed in pineapple production (talk about irony)

The final leg of the journey was a guided tour of the various varieties of pineapples. Additionally, there are ornamental pineapple plants as well (who knew?)