JOHOR PINEAPPLES EN ROUTE TO GERMANY

Reported that Johor will continue to develop pineapple farming to maintain the state’s position as the main producer of the fruit in the country. Johor pineapples en route to Germany  State agriculture are the latest targets by state government recently. According to sources known as Agro-based industry and rural development committee chairman that Johor allocated RM9 million in 2022 to develop the farming of MD2 pineapples. MD2 pineapples are one of the world’s sweetest variants and is said to have a high vitamin C content. The variety is easily identified by its bright gold skin and uniform size. Johor currently have about 10,212 hectares of area cultivated with pineapple as of last year. This accounted for 63% of pineapple farms in the country and one of the estates are Kulim Pineapple Farm located in Ulu Tiram, Kota Tinggi on mineral soils. The largest pineapple estates in Johore are located in Simpang Renggam, Kluang Johor on peat soil about 4,000 acres. State government through Malaysian Pineapple Industrial Board (MPIB) provide RM9 million allocation in 2021 to encourage pineapple smallholders to venture into MD2 pineapple cultivation. An effort for the first shipment of MD2 pineapples from the Kulim Pineapple Farm to Germany are the latest export market of MD2. The export to the country was made possible under a programme with the Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board, Malaysia Agriculture Research Development Institute, Agriculture Department, Federal Agriculture and Marketing Authority, state-linked company Kulim (M) Bhd and Picasynergy Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd. The German importer had visited Malaysia in July to sample the pineapples grown at the Ulu Tiram farm and satisfied with the fruit quality. The first container containing 18,000kg had departed the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Gelang Patah this month, bound for Rotterdam in Netherlands. The pineapples would then be transported by road to Cologne, Germany, with the entire journey taking between 25 and 30 days. Apart from Germany, Kulim also exports the MD2 variety to China, Japan, South Korea, Qatar and Turkiye as the export fresh MD2 pineapple recently. In other report before that Kulim Pineapple Farm (KPF) in which comes under Kulim (M) Bhd penetrate the European market this year. It is currently in complete discussions for export to Germany and in the process of obtaining the GLOBALGAP certification for good agricultural practices as claim by KPF general manager. In the first three months of this year, KPF exported for 122 tonnes of the MD2 pineapples to three countries China, Japan and Turkey involving seven containers. KPF targeted to produce 5,800 tonnes of fresh pineapples this year. Fifty per cent of the fruits will be for the domestic market and 30% would be for export while 20% would undergo an original equipment on the manufacturing process. Thanks...

By,

M Anem,

Putrajaya,

Malaysia.

(Fabuary 2023).