Pineapple factory launched in Kenya

by Peter Mutai

The Kenyan government has commissioned the construction of a modern pineapple processing factory in Bureti District.

The Sh50 million factory at Monoru area in Roret Division will have the capacity to process more than 56,000 metric tonnes of pineapples annually. The Ministry of Industrialisation will spearhead the work.

Industrialisation Assistant Minister Ndiiritu Muriithi said construction of the factory is expected to be completed in the next three months. He said already Sh25 million has been released for the project.

Last year, pineapple farmers in the District produced 56,000 metric tonnes of the crop that earned them more than Sh654 million. The bulk of the crop was sold in the country.

...once the factory is in operation, the production of pineapples is expected to rise from the current 56,000 metric tonnes to more than 170,000 metric tonnes annually. The district has the potential to produce 500,000 metric tonnes annually.

The farmers have been counting huge losses during the peak season.

The Standard

Purshade helps protect pineapples agaist heat stress and sun damage

Grown in hot, tropical climates, pineapples are susceptible to heat stress and sun damage, which has been shown to limit plant production as well as deteriorate or discolor tissue that can render the fruit unsellable.

Purfresh, a leading provider of clean technologies has announced that pineapple growers from major tropical growing regions have achieved a significant reduction in heat stress and sun damage with the company’s solar stress protectant—Purshade®.

Purshade has been engineered to prevent solar damage and heat stress by reflecting harmful wavelengths of solar radiation such as ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) away from the plant, while still allowing transmission of sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis. Laboratory results show Purshade reflects as much as 85–95 percent of harmful UV radiation, and has been shown to keep plant surfaces 7–10 degrees Fahrenheit (3–6 degrees Celsius) cooler than untreated plants.

Purshade is currently being used to protect pineapple crops in the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Mexico, Australia, Costa Rica, the Caribbean, and the United States. In addition, Purshade is being used in trials in the Philippines, Kenya, and Thailand with intentions to commercialize the product. Growers throughout these regions report Purshade’s ease of use and high level of effectiveness has enabled them to discontinue use of more costly, labor-intensive methods of sun protection.

The calcium-based Purshade family of products is easy to mix, apply, and remove; are highly compatible with other products; and can be applied with standard spray equipment. Incorporating a Purshade solar protectant into a preventative spray program, for conventional or organic production, helps maximize the value of every treated acre by reducing solar-related losses, increasing yield potential, enhancing crop quality, and improving water use efficiency.

Purfresh

Small-scale Ivorian pineapple growers want more support

by Fulgence Zamblé

Karim Diabaté looks questioningly at his vast 20 hectare pineapple plantation in Bonoua in south-eastern Côte d’Ivoire. ”I’m asking myself if if I’ll get the money I need for in time for the inputs I need and keep my plants going.”

For two months, 35-year-old Diabaté has made several trips between his plantation and the local office of the Central Organisation of Producers and Exporters of Pineapples and Bananas (known by its French acronym, OCAB) in Bonoua, 50 kilometres from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s economic capital.

”I was lucky enough to get some initial funding through the organisation’s pilot project, but it isn’t enough. I still need around one million CFA francs (just over $2,000) to get inputs and ensure a good yield from my plants,” he says.

His friend Arouna Konaté is in much the same situation. ”In 2003, I stopped growing pineapples because we were getting no assistance and we were heavily in debt. Today, I’m back here hoping things have improved but it seems they haven’t,” he said. ”When the prices of inputs go up 300 percent and the price of a kilogramme of pineapples on the international market goes down, how are we expected to get any kind of return on our investment?” asks Konaté. ”For a long time now the wolf has been at the door.”

Seven years ago, Konaté says, treating a hectare of land with pesticides cost between $225 and $680; today he spends $680 and $1100. To this he must add the cost of buying cardboard boxes for storing the pineapples, transportation costs to the city and finally, employee wages.

OCAB says the Ivorien variety of pineapples fetch between 79 and 86 cents per kilo on the international market. The Bonoua district, the main growing area for pineapples, today has just 1,500 producers, compared to 30,000 in 2000. It produces 80 percent of the pineapple exported from Côte d’Ivoire, according to OCAB.

The country has seen its exports decline steadily due to high production costs and falling prices. According to OCAB, some 214,000 tonnes of pineapples were exported in 1999. Last year this figure was down 70 percent to 60,000 tonnes. One of the reasons for this steep decline in production is the discontinuation of funding from donors, following the 2002 political crisis in this West African country.

Mario Adiko, president of the United Pineapple and Banana Planters of Côte d’Ivoire, says that Ivorien growers lost their place in the international market. ”When we attend meetings, we are told that our production capacity is now meaningless, because 60,000 tonnes for a market demand of around one million tonnes is just insignificant.”

A few months ago, pineapple producers received a delegation from the European Union and the Ivorien Ministry of Agriculture. ”We explained our difficulties to them so that they could help us,” says Anassa Julien, member of a local producers’ cooperative, ”because banks are reluctant to give us credit.”

Eugène Yocoli, a technical manager, says, ”Today, we can say that pineapple farming is still alive thanks to the pineapple pilot project we are currently rolling out in Bonoua and Adiaké.” He says the project has been funded through the balance of funds from the 7th pineapple project of the European Development Fund, totalling $909,000.

”Earlier this year, while waiting for donors, we were hoping to hear that the government had decided to give us a boost – and fortunately this hapepned,” he enthuses. In July, the Ivorien government unveiled a rescue plan to boost production of pineapples. In the next two years, 300 small-scale growers will be set up, on a budget of 20 billion FCFA (approximately $45.4 million).

Konaté says, ”I do not know how many hectares these 300 growers will use, but the number seems small. They represent only a fifth of the total number of producers. Others will have to rely on themselves.” He adds, ”For me, the incoming aid will not totally save the industry. It can only maintain it in its present state for a while. We need a much larger programme.”

For Konaté, the fact that the programme will cover only 300 growers from over 1,000 applicants means it remains unclear whether Côte d’Ivoire will return to its former glory as a pineapple producer.

Martinien Gadou, an economist based in Abidjan, says that farmers will have to make do with the what the government has provided. ”We talk of a rescue plan because there is an emergency. The state has taken account of the industry’s position as regards the international market, and has released the support it has at its disposal. There shouldn’t be any complaints.”

IPS

Pineapple processing company targets Zambian outgrowers

Approximately K100 million ($27,000) has been earmarked for the development of a pineapple out grower scheme in Zambia involving 1,000 small-scale citrus farmers.

Freshmot Zambia Ltd managing director, Moses Tamele, said the venture was part of the preparations for the revival of the Mwinilunga pineapple processing factory. The company is currently in negotiations with a South African firm to revive the factory.

The outgrower scheme was to ensure that the anticipated new factory had enough raw material for processing into various end-products.

The development has elated many farmers in the province who see the development as an opportunity to embark on commercially viable citrus farming.

“Hundreds of tonnes of citrus fruit go to waste every year in Zambia because of lack of market and the non-availability of processing facilities to absorb the fruit.” Mr Tamele said.

Times of Zambia

Zambia tries to lure pineapple investors

A Zambian official has lamented the poor state of pineapple growing in the country despite having good quality soils for growing the fruit.

Foreign Minister Kabinga Pande expressed concern at the state of the sector on a recent visit to Mwinilunga in the north of the country, where he and other ministers led a team of prospective investors.

Mwinilunga is the main centre for pineapple growing in the country, and the town previously had a cannery where the fruit was processed for marketing.The cannery was, however, shut down several years ago and is now in a state of disrepair, leading to the infrastructure being vandalised.

Kabinga, said there was an urgent need now for the country to revive the industry and set up a new cannery. He encouraged the investors to set up partnerships with local entrepreneurs to grow and process the fruit for the export market.

It has been difficult for the government to attract investors to Mwinilunga despite its potential due to its remote location. In addition, the town has poor infrastructure and an unreliable supply of electricity and telecommunications, further discouraging the potential investors from coming forward to settle there.

African Press Agency

Ghanaian farmers introduced to new pineapple varieties

About 200 pineapple farmers in the Akwapim South District of Ghana recently attended a two-day workshop on the production and marketing of new varieties of pineapple.

The varieties include Smooth Cayenne and Sugar Loaf.

The programme was organised by Albe Farms and Green Culture Organisation, an NGO, in collaboration with the Akwapim South District Assembly.

Mr. Albert Atuah, Managing Director of Albe Farms in Accra, said pineapple was one of the major non-traditional crops, with a high export value and accounting for about 7 per cent of the total national export. He appealed to the youth of the area to register in their numbers to start the cultivation of pineapple, instead of going after white colour jobs in the cities.

My Joy

Namibia to begin growing pineapple for export

Namibia is mostly desert and does not have an ideal climate for many crops. But two entrepreneurs, Philip de Wet and his business partner Israel Jona, wanted to investigate the possibilities of diversifying agriculture in the Kavango Region. Three crops that came to mind for feasibility studies were pineapples, bananas and table grapes.

Table grapes are already being farmed in the south of the country and bananas cannot be canned, so they decided to concentrate on looking into the possibilities of farming and canning pineapple. Nearly three years of intensive research on an experimental farm has shown that large-scale pineapple farming is feasible in Namibia.

Pineapple is is one of very few crops that can be planted and harvested throughout the year. This would mean no off-season for workers and a constant cash flow within a short period after the first planting.

De Wet planted 1 000 plants of the Smooth Leaf Cayenne species and monitored them closely over the next two years. The variety is particularly suited to canning. In December 2006 the first crop of about 1 000 pineapples was harvested.

The idea is to establish three commercial farms under irrigation in the Kavango Region. These farms would provide 140 jobs, of which more than half will be for women. An important objective of the project is to train local subsistence farmers in all aspects of pineapple production. They will then serve as out-growers for the canning factory.

The training will be executed in cycles, with 70 annual newcomers who will receive two years of training. In this way, the three commercial farms will help develop more small-scale farmers, most of whom will be women. Once they have finished their training and are back on their own farms, they can grow a variety of crops and the factory will provide a market for them.

The factory is expected to receive 21 000 tonnes of pineapples a year during the start-up years of the commercial farms. It will have a cannery and a juicing division, with the products mainly being exported to Europe. The first pineapple plants will be planted this year and the factory
will be built next year, as the plants take two years to yield their first fruit.