Those pineapples that still seem exotic on a super market shelf anywhere beyond the equator, are not just gorgeous to look at and luscious to eat or drink but this seemingly omnipresent tropical produce requires a careful and lengthy process of cultivation.
 
In the Pacific island of Vanuatu, where pineapple production on a large commercial scale is still being developed, local family and commercial pineapple farms are being helped through a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) project to improve and enhance their production through better planting and husbandry techniques and by improving post-harvest practices through better management.
 
Pineapples can take anywhere between 12 months and two years to grow to maturity, as opposed to vegetables such as cabbages and tomatoes that take only one to three months.
 
It is easy to understand why local farmers were often protective of their crops, for while planting is relatively easy, basic planting materials of  the head, side leaves or roots of the pineapple are guarded by farmers, especially those with high quality produce, to ensure competitors are not able to access the planting materials. This means that for new farmers access to local planting materials, especially from successful farms with sought after produce, can be an issue.
 
Over the past year, FAO has been working with local farmers either starting from scratch, or providing advice to improve existing commercial farms producing anywhere from a few hundred to 100 000 pineapples. Read on here.