PINEAPPLE - NEW SOURCE WEALTH IN MALAYSIA

Pineapple (Ananas comosus) uses 6.3% agrofood area in Malaysia, which is the fourth largest area after durian (41.3%), banana (18.0%), and rambutan (9.8%). In Malaysia, pineapples are grown in area of around 10,847 hectares with an estimated production of 272,570 metric tons in 2015 (DOA, 2016). Malaysia's more than 2,000 pineapple farmers and plantation owners have been told to step up their game to meet an increased demand for the fruit crop in the Chinese market. Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board (MPIB) Director General Datuk Mohd Anim Hosnan said that the Malaysian pineapples had become a new source of wealth for the country as its export value was expected to increase from RM155 million a year to RM320 million by 2020. He said China was among the newest export destinations for Malaysian pineapples, and there was still huge potential for Malaysia to tap into the big Chinese market.

He claimed that so far, Malaysia can only meet 10 per cent of the demand for pineapples in China. The consumer demand for Malaysian pineapples is there, and meeting the demand and quality standards of China is something not many countries are able to fulfill. Malaysia only began exporting pineapples in a big way to China on Oct 12 this year. Since then, no less than 150 metric tonnes of pineapples are sent to China each week," said Director General at the MPIB headquarters in Bandar Baru UDA here today. He said penetrating the Chinese market remained a challenge, but this could be overcome if more industry players stepped forward to collaborate with the MPIB. 

Mohd Anim said on the local front, Malaysian consumption of pineapples had seen encouraging growth as the ratio of consumer to pineapple consumption increased from 1:10 five years ago to 1:14 now. He added that local pineapple farmers can earn about RM5,000 a month from every hectare cultivated. Farmers are also able to sell fresh pineapples at high prices as there are more hybrids of the fruit now. He said Johor remained the highest producer of pineapples as the state accounted for 68 per cent of the farming areas that cultivated the fruit. That how he claimed that pineapples new source of wealth for Malaysia. Thankyou.

By,

M Anem,

Senior Agronomist,

Precing 11F, Putrajaya,

Malaysia

(27 JamadilAwal 1441H).