**3. National and international pineapple production**

In Mexico, pineapple was produced in 14 states during year 2019. Although 80% of the production was concentrated in the Bajo Papaloapan region, which include seven municipalities in the state of Veracruz: Isla, Juan Rodríguez Clara, José Azuela, Chacaltianguis, Medellín, Alvarado, Tlalixcoyan and two municipalities in the state of Oaxaca: Loma Bonita and Tuxtepec. Both the area planted and pineapple production

have increased from 13.93 thousand ha to 376.15 thousand t in 1980 to 44.18 thousand ha and 1041.16 thousand t in 2019, which represents an average annual growth rate of 3% and 2.6%, respectively, Tuxtepec [12]. Therefore, pineapple is considered as the second most important tropical crop in the world after bananas, contributing more than 20% of the world volume of tropical fruits. Until 2002, Mexico occupied the seventh position in the world in pineapple production, contributing 4% of the total world volume Tuxtepec [13].

Worldwide, there are 14 countries that dominate pineapple cultivation, in which Mexico is the leader in yield with 42.8 t ha−1, but its production is surpassed by Thailand, the Philippines, Brazil, and China, who report yields of 23.6 t ha−1, 37.5 t ha−1, 24.3 t ha−1 and 36.2 t ha−1 respectively Tuxtepec [14]. Although there are other countries that has greater production compared to Mexico, however, these are not considered important since their participation in the world market is less than 2%. The cultivated area of pineapple in Mexico in 2008 was 29.46 thousand hectares, which produced 718.29 thousand tons, with a value of \$94.92 million dollar USD [14].

The state of Tabasco in 2008 ranked fourth in planted area with 1287 hectares, and third in production with 42,400 tons, which reached a value of \$6.17 million dollar USD [14]. The largest importer of pineapple worldwide is the United States with 696.82 thousand tons. Although Canada, another trading partner of Mexico, in the same year imported 102.06 thousand tons [15], even though Mexico is one of the most important trading partners for the US and Canada, it does not export pineapple. Which is due, among other things, to the area dedicated to this crop [16].

#### **4. Economic importance**

Although pineapple is grown in the state of Tabasco, the government, through various institutions, carried out agroecological zoning studies to find out areas having the greatest production potential for pineapple cultivation. The world pineapple market is 2.49 million tons, which is imported by 123 countries. 74.31% of the world pineapple market is dominated by eight countries listed below in order of importance: United States (696,820 t), Belgium (292,499 t), Netherlands (200,026 t), Germany (167,416 t), Japan (165,794 t), United Kingdom (116,730 t), Spain (113,182 t) and Canada (102,064 t) [15].

The pineapple cultivation is profitable when more than 45.8 t ha−1 fruit is produced. 5.96 thousand ha area was identified with great potential to produce pineapple mainly located in Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatán. It is concluded that pineapple production is profitable in those regions that present ideal agroecological conditions for its production. The main marketing channels for fresh pineapple in Mexico are: 1.- Central de Abasto de la Ciudad de Mexico: In this center it is acquired between 30 and 35% of the total volume of national production that is channeled to the fresh pineapple market. However, all this volume is not consumed in Mexico City and the metropolitan area rather an important part is redistributed to other supply centers in the interior of the country. 2.- Central de Abasto de Monterrey: In this center, 20% of the produced crop volume is acquired. This plant supplies the market in the north of the country. 3.-Central de Abasto de Guadalajara: This center acquires an average of 10% of the national production destined for the fresh market. 4.- Second-order markets such as Puebla, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Yucatán and Michoacán, acquire 10% and 5.- Smaller places and self-service chains consume the remaining 30–35% [15, 16].

*The Production and Marketing Issues of Pineapple (*Ananas comosus*) under Humid Tropical… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106499*

#### **Figure 3.**

*Pineapple cultivation: a) Crop with problems of nutritional deficiency and excess water, b) crop in full growth with the proper management of fertilization doses and c) Development and growth of pineapple maguey without deficiencies and adequate drainage.*
