Breeding of Fruit and Plantation Crops

pineapple

• Botanical name : Ananas comosus L.
• Family: Bromeliaceae
• Chromosome number: 2n = 2x = 50


Centre of diversity


• Pineapple is believed to be originated in Brazil. The wild Brazilian pineapple (Ananas microstachys Lindle) is considered as ancestor of cultivated pineapple. It reached India during 1548.The geneic name “Ananas” is derived from the Indian “Nana”.


Germplasm resources


• In India, much attention has not been given in the development of field gene banks. However, commercial cultivars are maintained at BCKV, Kalyani, Agriculture Research Station, Kovvur (APAU), Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Jorhat, Regional Research Station: Diphu (Assam Agricultural University), Department of Horticulture, College of Horticulture, Navsari (GAU), College of Horticulture at Vellanikara and Trichur. A list of 135 varieties was published as early as in 1935 by Johnson, although some of them were found synonymous.


Objectives


• To develop high yielding, early maturing varieties with wider geographical adaptability.
• Plant should be hardy, vigorous, capacity to produce good ratoon crop, leaves should be spineless.
• Fruit stalk should be short and strong.
• There should be flat eyes and small cones.
• Development of varieties resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses (e.g. multiple crown, fasciation, wilt, heart rot, root rot and nematode).

Inheritance Pattern


According to Collins, 1960 spineless form in which spines are restricted to top few inches of the leaf and dominanat to spiny wild type. Further many wild cultivars possess spiny leaves. Ananas ananosoies is also a source of disease resisteance. The cultivar pernambuco is donor for good flavor and aroma, tender non fibrous juicy fruits, early fruiting, resistant to heart and root rot. Queen can be for crisp, non fibrous deep yellow flesh fruits, early Repening.
Red Spanish is good source of vigour, resistance to wilt, heart and root rot. Singapore Spanish can be good donor for square. Shouldered fruits with golden yellow flesh and wild species are good source of vigour, resisteance to various disease and pests, spiny tip and spiny characters are the phenotypic expression of single pair of alleles, with spiny tp being dominant (Collins and kerns,1946). Homozygous 55 and heterozygous 5 and produce spiny tips, recessive and may give rise to spiny plants progeny (Collins and kerns, 1946). The piping and non piping characters are controlled by another non- linked pair of alleles with the gene P (piping) being epistatic to 5 and s. The homozygous pp genotype produce pronounced piping than Pp genotypes. Frequent mutations of 5 and s occur (scn. 1996). Ananas erectifolius is having Se gene of smooth tip leaves. (Collins, 1960).