DIAGNOSTIC AND PERSPECTIVES OF PINEAPPLE CROPPING IN MEXICO

Pineapple is known in México since prehispanic ages. Smooth Cayenne cultivar, the most widely cultivated around the world, was introduced into Hawaii at the beginning of the XX century. Mexico is ranked as the seventh worldwide producer with 600,000 ton of fruit per year, harvested in 14 000 ha^-1 with an annual oscillation of ± 3,000 ha^-1. Eighty percent of this production is cropped at the lower basin of the Papaloapan river, in Southern Veracruz and northern Oaxaca. The presence of at least 3,000 pineapple growers in this region represents a complexity to planting and harvesting schedules, as well as for marketing. The cannery industry has an installed capacity of 200, 000 ton, but is working only at its 20% because they do not have links with the growers. In spite of its close location of the country to the biggest pineapple consumer in the world, México only exports around 5% of its total production, whereas the domestic fresh market consumes 80%, and the rest is used for the cannery industry. Traditional market channels strongly depend on domestic brokers, but this situation is changing toward a more direct relationship between the grower and the big chain supermarkets. Most pineapple surface area depends on rainfall, with planting densities lesser than 30,000 plants ha^-1, with a high use of manpower, looking for fruits heavier than 2.4 kg. A significant increase on mechanized cropping has been observed in the last five years, with higher planting densities or with irrigation representing about 30, 25 y 20% of the total, respectively. Soil deterioration, pests, diseases, nutrimental unbalances, deficient control of flowering and fruit ripening as well as drought negative effects, are the main problems in commercial plantings, which are aggravated by the deficient fruit post harvest handling. Lack of credit, insurance, technical advice and deficient organizational structures, are the main limiting socioeconomic factors. Drastic fluctuations on fruit prices in the domestic market, as well as the aggressive sale strategies at the world market can be only overcome by an efficient organizational policy that establish a harmonic relationship between growers, the canning industry and the market. The role of government should be to induce and facilitate consolidation of such a relationship. The needed production technology to support these efforts is available.