Information

From World Leader to Modest Modern Producer: The Story of Malaysian Pineapple

Malaysia, was once home to the top 3 biggest pineapple production factories in the world in the 60’s and early 70’s, has a relatively modest industry today. Today, Malaysia has a total of more than 17,601 hectares of pineapple plantation.

Malaysia is one of the world’s major producers of pineapples besides Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Hawaii, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Brazil, Taiwan, Australia, India and South Africa. Pineapple fruit has a high market. Pineapple was introduced in Malaya in the 16th century by the Portuguese. In line with the development of rubber plants, in 1921 the pineapple was cultivated in Singapore, Johor and Selangor as a cash crop. Pineapple plants continue to grow and cultivate in peatlands especially in Johor.

The pineapple, Ananas comosus is a tropical plant with edible fruit. Pineapples may be cultivated from the o set produced at the top of the fruit, possibly owering in ve to ten months and fruiting in the following six months. Pineapples do not ripen signi cantly after harvest. It grows well, both in the plains and also at elevations not exceeding 900 meters.

Places with heavy rainfall are best for pineapple growth. Optimum rainfall is 1500mm per year although it can still grow in areas having 500mm to 5550mm of rainfall. Pineapples are suitable for cultivation in humid tropics, like in Malay- sia. Pineapple grows in almost any type of soil, provided its free-draining. The soil must be well drained and light in texture. Slightly acidic soil with a pH range from 5.5 to 6.0 is considered optimum for pineapple cultivation.

Pineapples usually ower from February to April and the fruits are ready for July to September. Sometimes, o -season owers appear and they produce fruits in September- December.

Why Pineapple?

The pineapple industry in Malaysia is unique because nearly 90% of the crop is planted on peat soil which is considered marginal for most other agricultural crops. The current technology for cultivation of pineapple on peat appears adequate although the inability to mechanise on this type of soil is a severe disadvantage in the face of labour shortage and rises in other input costs. There is an emerging interest in planting fresh fruit varieties on mineral soil to obtain better quality produce and we can do better.

Banana Biotechnology in Malaysia: Addressing Production Challenges Through Innovation

Banana is the second most commonly grown fruit crop in Malaysia. Overall banana production has decreased due to the increasing threat of Fusarium wilt disease, high labour costs and marketing issues. This program was initiated to improve banana cultivars by induced mutations and biotechnology, especially to produce mutant varieties with improved traits such as Fusarium tolerance, short stature plants, early fruiting and high bunch weight. Banana shoot-tip cultures were most suitable for micropropagation for large-scale plant production. Commercial companies have adopted this method, and they produce 1.3 million plants annually, with approximately 0.5% somaclonal variation.

The present research program was initiated with the objective of improving the important dessert bananas in Malaysia. This includes production of resistance or tolerance to Fusarium wilt or Panama disease, short plant stature, early fruiting, and high bunch weight. Banana cultivars are vegetatively propagated clones and are generally triploids and sterile. Tissue culture techniques have been exploited for (a) propagation of selected lines or natural variants; (b) generation of somaclones; (c) production of meristem pieces for in vitro mutagenesis and polyploidy induction; and (d) zygotic embryo culture to generate seed progenies for genetic and molecular studies.

As for Production and Price of banana in Malaysia it was stable for domestic market. While there are various types of bananas, the most cultivated banana type in the world is the Cavendish, which accounts for about half of the global banana production4. Meanwhile, the Cavendish and the Berangan bananas are the most common banana
varieties in Malaysia.

The economic lifespan of bananas is about two years6 and they are often intercropped with perennial crops such as rubber and oil palm.

Why Banana?

The world’s most popular fruit is certainly popular and important for farmers and consumers in Malaysia. The country is blessed with the biodiversity to cultivate bananas, but more research is required to fully understand the nation’s domestic banana supply chain, its challenges and strategies to enhance the industry. Moreover, the sudden spike of Malaysia’s banana import warrants further investiga- tion. It could re ect changing consumer demand for imported fruits or cheaper prices of imported bananas due to lower tari s. Perhaps, there were also potential shortages or inconsistent supply of local production which required additional supply. The increase in imports could potentially a ect long-term banana production and income of banana growers in the country.