§1What this business is
Pineapple is a crop of the humid tropics, grown on the high-rainfall coasts of peninsular India and in the hills of the north-east, up to 1,000 m where there is no frost. It is planted from suckers, slips or crowns at close spacing. Plants flower 12–15 months after planting and the fruit is ready at 15–18 months; a growth-regulator spray is used to make flowering uniform. After the first harvest the plants are kept as a ratoon crop. Fruit for the table is picked golden yellow, and fruit for canning a little earlier. It is packed in bamboo baskets of 20–25 kg lined with paddy straw and trucked to market.
Capacity: One acre at high density. Yield is 25.0 tonnes in the second year and 20.0 tonnes in the third year.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
A farmer in a high-rainfall coastal or north-eastern belt, ideally near a canning or juice unit.
Who it is not for
Farmers in dry or frost-prone areas, or with no buyer within a day's truck journey.
Advantages
- Fruit from the second year
- High tonnage per acre
- Canning and juice units buy in bulk
- Suckers from your own crop plant the next cycle
Drawbacks
- Planting material is the biggest first-year cost — ₹13,000 an acre
- Ripe fruit cannot be kept more than 4–5 days without cooling
- Grows only in humid, frost-free areas
- Yield falls in the third year
Skills you need
- Selecting and treating suckers before planting
- High-density planting in trenches or on contours
- Timing the flowering spray
- Harvesting at the right stage for table or canning
Why difficulty 2/5: A short, simple crop, but only for humid areas with a buyer close by.
§3Market
Who buys
- Fruit wholesalers in city markets
- Canning (slices) and juice units
- Local fruit retailers
How it sells
- Bamboo baskets of 20–25 kg by truck to local markets
- Fruit wrapped one by one in paddy straw for distant markets
- Direct supply to processing units
Good to know
- The model values pineapple at ₹5,000 a tonne.
- Fruit with the crown keeps 10–15 days; refrigerated at 10–13°C it stores for 20 days.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tube well with submersible pump | — | ₹40,000 |
| Drip irrigation system with fertigation equipment | for 1 acre | ₹20,000 |
| Store and pump house | — | ₹15,000 |
| Labour room | — | ₹5,000 |
| Farm implements | — | ₹5,000 |
| Fencing | — | ₹29,580 |
From: National Horticulture Board model bankable project — Pineapple
- Planting material — pineapple suckerssuckers or slips 5–6 months old flower about 12 months after planting
- Manures and fertilisersfirst-year provision in the model
- Insecticides and pesticidesfirst-year provision in the model
From: National Horticulture Board model bankable project — Pineapple
§5Licences & registration
- No licence is needed to grow fruit on your own or leased farm land
- Land ownership or registered lease papers (banks and subsidy offices ask for them)
- Permission for a new borewell where the state groundwater authority requires it
- For export: Import Export Code, APEDA registration and a phytosanitary certificate
Start it in your state
Pick your state: today’s cost, central + state subsidy, raw material, land and help, on one page.
§6Schemes & subsidies
The model assumes the farmer puts in ₹75,000, a capital subsidy of ₹30,000 and a bank term loan of ₹45,000 at 12% interest on the ₹1,50,000 cost. Today NHB's open-field scheme is for orchards above 2 hectares, leaves out land cost and needs a bank term loan; for a one-acre orchard ask the district horticulture office about state schemes.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: One-acre model; the cost of land is not included. Cultivation expenses ₹33,330 (planting material ₹13,000, manures and fertilisers ₹10,000, insecticides and pesticides ₹2,000, labour ₹4,730, power ₹3,600) + irrigation ₹40,000 (tube well with submersible pump ₹40,000) + drip irrigation system ₹20,000 + infrastructure ₹25,000 (store and pump house ₹15,000, labour room ₹5,000, farm implements ₹5,000) + land development ₹31,680 (land levelling ₹2,100, fencing ₹29,580) = ₹1,50,000. The printed lines add up to ₹10 more than the printed grand total.
Working capital: Recurring production cost for the acre: ₹20,330 in year 1, ₹46,300 in year 2 and ₹40,300 in year 3, including harvesting, packing and transport.
Year not printed on the report. It costs labour at ₹70 a man-day, so these are old prices — planting material, labour, borewell and drip costs are much higher now.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
Export council / board: APEDA
- Exports of fresh pineapple from India rose from 138 tonnes in 1999-2000 to 837 tonnes in 2001-02, says the report.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Fruit spoiling in transit
- Uneven flowering spreading the harvest over months
- Sunburn on ripening fruit
- Low prices when the whole area harvests in May–August
§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan
A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.
- Days 1–30: Visit a working pineapple farming unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (No licence is needed to grow fruit on your own or leased farm land, Land ownership or registered lease papers (banks and subsidy offices ask for them)), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
- Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.
§11Who to connect with
§12Watch
There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.
Want to start Pineapple Farming?
DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.
¶Sources
Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.