Fast propagation of pineapple (Ananas comosus) with stem cuttings

The present study was conducted with the objective of producing more suckers from mother stems of pineapple as planting materials. They were sliced and raised in a sand media for 4 - 5 weeks till they force out suckers from lateral buds. These suckers were maintained in a secondary nursery till they reach the transplanting maturity. Thereafter these suckers were split across the epical bud and the resulted halves were established in a nursery. The suckers developed from the split halves were subjected for further multiplication by repeated splitting and following the same procedure. Survivability of the stem slices was 76% and each produced 3 – 5 suckers from lateral buds. After four months 35% of halves produced suckers with epical buds whereas, 65% produced more suckers with lateral buds. Accordingly, with stem slices and two multiplication cycles using lateral suckers a single stem can result 1050 suckers in 16 months. All the suckers formed in this technique are suitable for planting as these suckers derived from axillary buds located at the leaf bases of the stem. Therefore, fast propagation technique is an effective technique can easily be practiced by the pineapple growers.