Puerto Rico expands cultivation of pineapple

Puerto Rico plans to plant an additional 230 hectares (568 acres) with pineapple over the next few years as part of a program to reduce the island’s dependence on imports for 80 percent of its food.

Agriculture Secretary Myrna Comas told Efe that the goal of the new initiative is to make Puerto Rico selfsufficient in pineapple.

Puerto Ricans consume 6,000 tons of pineapple every year and the 140 hectares (345 acres) currently devoted to the fruit generate $3 million a year for farmers.

“This project is part of the Food Security Plan and it will contribute to increase local production and incentive agriculture in Puerto Rico,” the secretary said.

Increasing the production of pineapple and other staples is crucial to ensuring that Puerto Rico is not confronted with a food crisis in the event of a breakdown of external transportation links, Comas said.

Local production of pineapple is enough to meet demand during the summer months, she said, but during other seasons there is not enough of the fruit.

Ahead of an expected good harvest, Puerto Rican grocery chain Supermercados Econo has committed to buying the entire crop, Comas announced.

Econo President Hector Aulet told Efe that his company has a policy of supporting production in Puerto Rico.

Boosting pineapple production is a good way to show it is possible to move toward food selfsufficiency, Comas said, adding that one reason for the island’s food dependence is a negative perception of farming as an occupation for uneducated people.

The result has been the gradual abandonment of agriculture, leading to a high degree of dependence on imported foods.

As recently as 1980, imports accounted for less than 60 percent of the food consumed in Puerto Rico, according to Department of Agriculture data.

Puerto Rico currently imports all of its sugar, fats and grains, while local production covers meets less than 10 percent of the demand for vegetables, fruits and fish.