Pineapple production and Trade in Kerala
In Kerala, pineapple is cultivated in an area of 13000 hectares and there are around 500 farmers engaged in pineapple cultivation .The climate with intermittent rains and the soil conditions favoured the cultivation of pineapple in Kerala.
The finest quality 'Mauritius Pineapple' comes from Kerala.The main pineapple producing centre of Kerala is Vazhakkulam near Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district.Production capacity of Vazhakkulam pinapple accounts for 50 % of the 3.25 lakh tonnes of pineapple produced in Kerala every year.Pineapple fruits are produced round the year.Recently Geographical indication (GI) status was honored to Vazhakulam pineapple.Besides being one of the cheapest fruits, it hardly has any pesticide residue.
Vazhakulam pineapple was Registered as Geographical Indication (GI) No. 130 under Agricultural-Horticultural product at the GI Registry, Chennai on 4th September 2009. GI registration is the process of endorsing brand protection under WTO guidelines to the producers of any product known for quality and marketed in the label of a geographic area.The GI status will help in branding the fruit in the export market.
Products made from Pinapple include jam, squash, candy etc.