Sustainable pineapple growth performance on mineral soil

Abstract

In Malaysia, pineapple has been identified as a high-value non-seasonal tropic fruit, which is one of the top five fruits that shows a promising potential in the local and export markets. The variety of pineapple chosen in this study was MD2 hybrid. This variety is promoted for industrial cultivation by Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board (MPIB) because of its uniqueness as in uniformity and consistency for the size and ripeness compared to other varieties. Statistically, 90% of the pineapples in Malaysia are cultivated on peat soil while another 10% are cultivated on mineral soil. Highly weathered mineral soil lead to unfertile soil which inhibit crop growth. Thus, a field experiment was conducted to compare early growth performance of pineapple crop cultivated on mineral soil and peat soil. Based on t-test, growth performance including plant height, leaves length and leaves number showed no significant difference (p>0.05) except for leaf width. The leaf width of pineapple grown on mineral soil was significantly wider than cultivated on peat soil with significant difference of p = 0.015. The chemical analysis showed peat soil was significantly more acidic compared to mineral soil. Mineral soil was significantly higher in nutrients compared to peat soil especially the calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg). Meanwhile, peat soil was significantly higher in phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) content compared to mineral soil. From this study, it is found that with additional fertilizer, pineapple can be grown on mineral soil since the properties of soil can support the growth.