The government of the Dominican Republic has launched a programme to support pineapple production with the aim of increasing exports, especially to new markets like China.
The measures include the provision of technical assistance, credit, logistics support and investments to upgrade existing packhouses and build new facilities.
Agriculture Minister Osmar Benítez said pineapples were among the first a number of products chosen by the government to receive greater state support in order to boost production and find new export markets.
“Last year pineapples contributed around US$4.353m in exports and we’re working to increase that amount next year as our country has a lot of potential to supply the market with good quality fruit,” Benítez said.
Héctor Sánchez, president of pineapple association Apropic, said there were currently around 100,000 tareas (6,500ha) of pineapple production in the Dominican Republic, some 30 per cent of which is in the final stages of receiving GlobalGAP accreditation.
