Pineapple Pests and their Management: A Review

Pineapple Monocotyledonous, self-sterile, perennial plant of the tropical and subtropical area. It grows as a small shrub and the plant is normally propagated from the offset produced at the top of the fruit or from side shoot. The fruit are eaten fresh where available and in canned form worldwide which is the only source of bromelain, an enzyme used in pharmaceuticals and as meat tenderising agent. Pineapples are infested by a variety of insect pests. Some of the major pests that affect pineapple are mealy bugs, scale insects, thrips, fruit borer, bud moths, midgets, fruit flies, white grubs, beetles, weevils, termites and mites. Here we are going to discuss only the major and minor pests of pineapple, other than sucking pests viz. mealy bug, thrips, scale insect and mites.