Pineapple (Pada)
|
1. Local Name: Pada Pineapple or Sawit pineapple Nanas Pada is the name given by the Department of Agriculture to a variety of pineapple popularity known as 'Nanas Sawit' in Mukah and Dalat. The plant was first found by Encik pada b. Isut growing amongst other pineapple plants in his farm located along Sg. Aba near Dalat. The whole fruit is almost evenly sweet, soft and juicy. Because of these characteriestics Nanas Pada is very popular. Since then Encik Pada and his son-in-law Encik Michael Muli have propagated more and now they plant mostly this particular variety. 3. Plant Characters The mature plant has slender green leaves with dark red pigmentation along the middle of the upper surface and silver grey on the lower surface. All the leaves are armed with sharp spines along both margins. The inflorescence, borne on a stout peduncle, is pink in colour and consists of 100-170 flowers. Bract leaves at the base of the inflorescence are red. The crown, green and conical, measures 10-15 cm long. No slip has been observed but 3-5 ground suckers are normally produced on each plant. 4. Fruit Characters Nanas Pada fruit is almost cylindrical with medium sized prominently protruding eyes. On each eye the hard pointed remains of the stigma is quite distinct. Unripe fruits are dark green ripening to brownish yellow and finally to almost brownish red. Fruits are harvested when 2-3 eyes begin to turn brownish yellow. Fully ripened fruits weigh 1.5 kg - 2.5 kg with golden yellow flesh, slightly crunchy in texture and very sweet (Brix 17-23%). 5. Manuring
Organic fertiliser (chicken dung) 10 - 30 kg/plant/year and dolomite 0.2-0.3 kg/plant/year are recommended. For simultaneous and uniform fruit production, pineapple plants are normally induced to flower at 9-10 months after transplanting. Commercial preparations are available or a mixture of 300 ppm Ethrel and 3% urea can be sprayed at the rate of 40 ml per plant. 6. Vegetatif Period: 3 years 7. Economic Life: 20-25 years 8. Harvesting Nanas Pada has been found to be very responsive to flower induction treatment. On average, after induction treatment. On average, after induction treatment the plant will flower in 30 days; fruits can be harvested after 125-130 days. From an investigation, on average, the fruits of Nanas Pada planted on peat soil are slightly larger (2.3 kg) than when planted on mineral soil (1.5 kg). The fruit is best consumed within 3 days after harvest.
9. Pest and Disease Control Regular checking for pest and disease is important. The common pest is mealy bug. Mealy bug can be treated by spraying with dimethoate. There is no record of serious disease in Sarawak yet.
| Top | |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Sources: |
