Quindio is the fourth largest producer of pineapple, with great potential for the international market.
Pineapple crops in Quindio, especially of the Golden variety, are a very important economic opportunity and producers should be provided with as much support as possible. The country and the world are consuming more and more pineapple. Pineapple has become the second most important fruit in Colombia, after oranges and citrus in general.
The department of Quindio has the ideal climate and soil for pineapple production, which is increasingly growing because of the increase in world consumption. This is a crop that can yield good profits for producers and can generate good employment.
According to the manager Asohofrucol, Alvaro Palacio Peláez, the investor Efremovich brought the Golden pineapple variety to Quindio. The crops, however, are in the hands of several producers from Quindio, the Cauca Valley, and Risaralda. One of the advantages of the Golden variety, Palacio said, is that its special flavor makes it suitable for all palates around the world. "We export it to the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Canada, and Chile," he added. However, Quindio needs more support.
Quindio and Risaralda compete for the fourth place in pineapple production in Colombia. Quindio has 643 hectares devoted to pineapple production that yield 24,700 tons of fruit annually. On average, Colombia produces 432,000 tons of fresh pineapple every year. Between 2007 and 2012 production increased by 12.2% and there has been an increasing trend since 2009. Fresh pineapple represents 13.8% of all of the country's fruit production. In 2012 pineapple production, which amounted to 487,000 tons, ranked second in fruit production only second to citrus production, which amounted to 593,000 tons, according to a report by the Dane.
The Productive Transformation Program of the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that Quindio's pineapple production is more interested in the international market than in the national one. "After analyzing each department's production, planting, yield averages, climate and soil conditions, and their business plans, the Productive Transformation Program established that the departments with the greatest pineapple development potential internationally are: Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Quindio, Risaralda, Caldas, Antioquia, Cordoba, Bolivar, Magdalena and Cesar, and at national level: Santander, Casanare and Meta "(PTP, 2013).
