Antigua and Barbuda aims to revive luxury fruit ‘Black Pineapple’ with 200,000 plants by 2025

Antigua and Barbuda: The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has launched a significant initiative to restore the well renowned Antigua Black Pineapple. The government said that they plan to produce more than 200,000 plant heads by next year.

The update was shared by Agriculture Minister Anthony Smith during a recent radio interview. He highlighted the utilisation of tissue culture technology in order to revitalize this popular fruit.

This initiative started with the selection of the highest quality strains of the Antigua’s Black Pineapple from local farmers. The Minister outlined that he asked around 10 farmers to come forward who said that they had the Antigua Black Pineapple which were the best of the best. 

He added that he is taking strains of the best of the best Antigua Black Pineapple and the team cleaned up the tissue culture.

Because of the absence of a particular facility locally, the cleaned tissue culture was sent to St Vincent where the plant material was then multiplied. 

Minister Smith added that the project has already started to yield significant results and noted that the team has multiplied those 10 into a whopping 15000 plant heads for the Antigua Black and the Ministry is now shipping them back to Antigua. 

Furthermore, the government also strives to further expand the production to a total of 200,000 plant heads by 2025. 

Smith noted that the local farmers have played a huge role in achieving this milestone and said that his team is planning to multiply that to over this number and the government will be responsible for a large portion as well but they also want to have those pineapple heads to give to the local farmers. 

Not only this, but the Agriculture Minister also made an appeal for the youth to enter this sector and described it as a highly profitable industry which has a strong support of the government. 

Notably, the Antigua Black Pineapple is celebrated across the globe for its unique sweetness and is considered a luxury fruit and a major symbol of agricultural heritage of Antigua and Barbuda. 

According to Smith this initiative showcases a major step towards preserving and promoting this fruit both locally, regionally and internationally. 

Additionally, the government has also committed to expanding its operations at Cades Bay and other agriculture-based stations in order to ensure a sustainable production.