Effect of Planting Density on Growth, Development and Yield of

Irrigated Pineapple in Nghe An Province 

N.Q. Hunga, D.K. Thoa and N.T.T. Huong
Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute
Trauquy, Gialam, Hanoi
Vietnam

Keywords: Chinese clone of ‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple, planting cultivars, irrigated

cultivation procedure, Nghe An province

Abstract
A study on the effect of planting density on growth, development and yield of
a Chinese clone of ‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple in irrigated cultivation was carried
out at the Nghe An Fruit Company in Nghe An province from July 2007 to October
2009. Planting densities in the experiments were from 57,000 to 78,000 crowns/ha;
fertigation was done through a drip irrigation system (TORO Australia Pty. Ltd.).
Increasing planting density increased plant height and decreased width of the ‘D’
leaf. Plants were forced with calcium carbide during the off season and flowering
percentage gradually declined as planting density increased. When the planting
density exceeded 71,000 crowns/ha, average fruit weight was 1.25-1.32 kg, which
was 20.0-21.8% lower than the average fruit weight at 66,000 crowns/ha, which
density produced the highest yield. At 66,000 crowns/ha the theoretical yield was
85.70-86.32 tons/ha and the lowest yield, which was obtained at 78,000 crowns/ha
was 68.91-73.27 tons/ha. Different planting densities did not significantly affect
quality criteria of ‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple fruit.

INTRODUCTION
Pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merr), is one of the key fruits grown from the
northern to southern provinces of Vietnam. By 2007, there were 38,636 ha under
pineapple cultivation in the country and the average yield for ‘Smooth Cayenne’ and
‘Queen’ was 14.34 t/ha. The total production was approximately 530,000 t.
According to the target of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, up
to 2010, exported pineapple production will reach 100,000 t with export turnover of
USD 85 million. To achieve the above targets, there is a need to both expand the planting
area and increase yield in both the northern and southern provinces. In the northern
provinces, in the context of competitiveness among land for pineapple cultivation and
other crops, increasing pineapple yield per ha is the best option. And to increase
pineapple yield, studies on technical measures such as planting density, irrigation
techniques and fertigation for ‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple must be done.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The planting density experiment was conducted on Chinese ‘Smooth Cayenne’
pineapple planted using crowns at Nghe An Fruit Company located in Nghe An province.
The experiment was planted in July 2007 with flowering treatments in September 2008
and a second season planting was carried out in March 2008 with flowering treatment in
April 2009. The main objectives were to study the effects of planting density on growth,
flowering, yield and quality of ‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple grown under drip irrigation.
The experiment consisted of density treatments of 57,000, 66,000, 71,000 and
78,000 crowns/ha. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design
with 3 replications. Each plot area was 56 m2. The experiment was planted in double
rows of 4 with nylon mulching. A drip irrigation system (TORO Australia Pty. Ltd.) was

a
hungnqrifav@hn.vnn.vn

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Eds.: H. Abdullah et al.
Acta Hort. 902, ISHS 2011
used to irrigate the plots for 30 min at 10-day intervals in the dry months. The plants
were fertilized with a synthetic NPK fertilizer especially formulated for pineapple with
8 g N+4 g P2O5+12 g K2O applied per plant (pure fertilizers) for the entire growth cycle.
The plant height was measured from the soil surface to the top of ‘D’ leaf. Plants
were forced with two applications of CaC2 solution, the second being made three days
after the first, at night by pouring the solution into the heart of the plant. The time from
forcing to flowering was calculated at anthesis of the first flower. The indicators of yield
included: fruit height, fruit diameter, average fruit weight and yield per treatment.
Elements including plant height, leaf number, fruit height, fruit diameter and average
fruit weight were measured on 30 plants per treatment for every replication. The
flowering rate was calculated on all plants of a treatment. The time from forcing to
harvest was calculated when 10% of fruits in a treatment were ready for harvesting. The
theoretical yield was calculated with elements including planting density, flowering rate
and average fruit weight. The marketable yield was calculated using all fruits in the
treatment. Fruit dry matter was determined after drying samples to a constant weight. The
total sugar percent was measured by the Bertrand method and total acidity was measured
by NaOH titration. The total soluble solids was estimated by hand refractometer and
vitamin C was measured by spectrometer.
All data collected were processed by the statistical program Excel 2000 and
IRRISTAT 4.0.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Effect of Plant Density on Growth

With the crop planted in March 2008, at 6 and 12 months after planting and at
forcing plant height was greatest at 78,000 plants ha-1 and was significantly higher than
plants grown at the other densities (Table 1). There were no other significant differences
in growth among treatments (Table 1). Number of leaves/plant also was not affected by
plant density. The response of both measures of plant growth to planting density was the
same for the crops planted in July 2007 (data not shown).
As with plant height, the length of the ‘D’ leaf at 6 and 12 months after planting
was greatest at 78,000 plants ha-1. Though not all differences were significant, there was
a general trend of increasing ‘D’ leaf length and decreasing leaf width with increasing
density at both 6 and 12 months after planting (Table 2). The effects of planting density
on ‘D’ leaf length and width were similar for both crops.

Effect of Plant Density on Flowering

Plant density treatments of 57,000 and 66,000 crowns/ha had the same percentage
flowering and duration from forcing to flowering and to harvesting in both crops (Table
3). At higher plant density treatments, the percentage flowering was lower and days from
forcing to harvest was longer at the highest planting density.

Effect of Plant Density on Yield and Quality

The indicators to assess yield and yield components of ‘Smooth Cayenne’
pineapple including average fruit weight, marketable yield and theoretical yield were
observed and evaluated for the July 2007 and March 2008 crops. Average fruit weight
was approximately constant for densities of 57,000 and 66,000 crowns/ha and average
fruit weights for the two plantings were similar (Table 4). At higher plant densities
average fruit weight decreased significantly with increasing density. Theoretical and
marketable yields were highest at a plant density of 66,000 crowns/ha (Table 4) and
yields declined at higher densities. The lowest theoretical yield for both crops was
obtained at a plant density of 78,000 crowns/ha.
Fruit dry matter and total sugars were highest at the lowest density, a finding
consistent with the better exposure individual plants would have at that density (Table 5).
There were few consistent differences in sugars or acidity at the higher densities.

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CONCLUSION
In the cultural practice protocol, which included drip irrigation in dry periods,
‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple plants were tallest at a density of 78,000 crowns/ha and
‘D’ leaf length was greater and width was less at the highest density. Percentage of plants
forced into flowering was unchanged at 57,000 and 66,000 crowns/ha but then declined
as density increased. Average fruit weight was decreased with increasing density at
densities above 66,000 crowns/ha and the highest estimated yield (85.7 to 86.3 t/ha) was
obtained at that density. The lowest yield, 68.9 to 73.3 t/ha for two different years, was
obtained at 78,000 crowns/ha. Fruit quality was not affected by planting density.

Literature Cited
Bartholomew, D.P., Paull, R.E. and Rohrbarch, K.G. 2003. The Pineapple: Botany,
Production and Uses. CABI International, Wallingford, UK.
Binh, N.H. 2006. Results of study on establishment of cultivative techniques and
intensive cultivative demonstration for Cayenne pineapple in Nghe An province.
Final report of Ministry level thesis period 2001-2005.
Noi, L.V. 2002. Initial results of establishment mulched and drip irrigated demonstration
for Cayenne pineapple in Thovuc state farm - Dongnai province. Report presented in
conference of pineapple production to supply for processing in Ninhbinh province.
Nyori, I. and Sema, A. 2004. Influence of spacing and split application of nitrogen on
pineapple cv. Giant Kew. Progress the Horticulture 36:19-21.
Thu, P.T.M. 2008. Results of study on irrigration and moisture reserved regimes for
pineapple in North of central part of Vietnam. Final report of Ministry level thesis
period 2006-2008.

Tables

Table 1. Effect of plant density on ‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple growth for crowns
planted on March 2008 (n=90).

6 months after 12 months after

At forcing
Plant planting planting
No.
density Plant height Leaf Plant height Leaf Plant height Leaf
(cm) no. (cm) no. (cm) no.
1 57,000 65.2 27.8 95.6 41.1 99.7 43.2
2 66,000 65.7 27.9 94.2 40.0 101.3 41.6
3 71,000 66.3 26.9 95.1 41.3 103.2 43.3
4 78,000 70.2 28.5 99.3 41.7 110.4 43.7
CV (%) 2.1 2.2 5.5 3.2 3.4 2.2
LSD 05 2.19 2.34 4.20 2.29 5.74 1.81

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Table 2. Effect of plant density on length and width of leaf ‘D’ (crowns were planted in
March 2008) (n=90) .

6 months after planting 12 months after planting

No. Plant density ‘D’ leaf length ‘D’ leaf width ‘D’ leaf length ‘D’ leaf width
(cm) (cm) (cm) (cm)
1 57,000 62.5 4.9 92.5 6.2
2 66,000 63.4 4.9 91.3 6.1
3 71,000 64.0 4.4 92.1 5.7
4 78,000 67.2 4.1 96.9 5.0
CV (%) 2.0 2.1 5.5 3.4
LSD 05 2.21 0.5 4.10 0.6

Table 3. Effect of plant densities on forced induction of flowering of ‘Smooth Cayenne’

pineapple.

Flowering Forcing to anthesis Forcing to harvest

Plant (%) (days) (days)
No.
density Sep. Apr. Sep. Apr. Sep. Apr.
20081 20091 20081 20091 20081 20091
1 57,000 85.5 89.5 45 37 157 132
2 66,000 85.6 89.1 45 37 162 132
3 71,000 80.1 82.9 45 37 162 138
4 78,000 75.7 76.7 45 37 167 145
1
Date plants were forced.

Table 4. Effect of plant density on fruit weight and yield of ‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple
(n=90).

Average fruit weight Theoretical yield Marketable yield

Plant (kg) (t/ha) (t/ha)
No.
density Sep. Apr. Sep. Apr. Sep. Apr.
20081 20091 20081 20091 20081 20091
1 57,000 1.61 1.69 77.08 85.73 71.55 78.51
2 66,000 1.60 1.65 89.76 96.92 85.70 86.32
3 71,000 1.52 1.55 86.33 90.24 79.34 80.14
4 78,000 1.25 1.32 73.80 78.24 68.91 73.27
CV (%) 3.0 3.7 - - 9.5 8.1
LSD 05 0.23 0.25 - - 4.70 4.32
1
Date plants were forced.

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Table 5. Effect of plant density on quality of ‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple fruits (crowns
were planted in March 2008).

Dry matter Total sugars Vitamin C Total acids Brix

No. Plant density
(%) (%) (mg/100 g) (%) (%)
1 57,000 17.65 14.34 15.46 1.54 15.20
2 66,000 15.80 14.29 15.69 1.68 14.90
3 71,000 16.05 13.93 12.28 1.85 14.80
4 78,000 16.65 13.34 14.78 1.54 14.20

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