The Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board (LPNM) intends to increase the production of MD2 premium pineapples to 50 per cent under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP). Director-general Mohd Khairuzamri M Salleh said that to achieve the target, LPNM plans to increase the country’s area of pineapple plantations to 20,000 hectares from 16,000 hectares when the focus is on the MD2 variety. The variety only covers 16 per cent of the country’s total pineapple crop.
Mohd Khairuzamri said pineapple exports are expected to continue to grow by five per cent per year during the 12MP period (2021-2025). He said Malaysia exported pineapples to over 20 countries with the 5 main countries importing Malaysian pineapple products being Singapore, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, China and Japan.
Apart from focusing on the MD2 variety, LPNM also plans to increase downstream product activities not only focusing on food products alone but also the manufacture of non-food products such as pineapple thread, health and beauty products and feed pellets.
Source: malaymail.com