By Umar Nsubuga
Hassan Serwadda has been a pineapple farmer for over 14 years.
He says many farmers know that pineapples need dry areas, and they don’t need a lot of water. But they don’t know their proper spacing.
Serwadda, whose farm is in Nsiima Salaam Nazigo in Kayunga district, says for larger plants wider plant spacing is important, “fruit size, growth quality and the plant growth will be reduced if plants are grown in the shade”, he advises.
He says it’s important to mark your field using the 2ft and 1ft spacing for planting, you should place the crowns 3cm deep in to the field and gently firm with soil.
The choice depends on the farmer’s strategy. If you are practising organic farming, you should use the double row system to achieve higher productivity, weed management, fertiliser application and inter-cropping.
The double row system consists of two rows close to each other across the slope, with valuable distance left before the next set of rows
The single row system, however, consists of a row running across the slope at regular intervals.
Spacing of pineapples depends on the variety, soil conditions, soil fertility and the desired size of pineapples.
For the double row system, you need one foot between the two rows by one foot between pineapple plants in a row by four feet between the double rows.
If you follow the instructions well, you will harvest 21,780 suckers in just one acre.
Note that the more space you leave, the fewer plants you have, but the fewer plants you have, the bigger the fruit.
For single rows, you can use three feet between rows by one foot between pineapple plants. You can harvest 14,520 plants per acre.
If you use two feet between rows by two feet between pineapple plants, you will harvest 10,890 suckers per acre.
