Sustainable Weed Control in Pineapple

The pineapple is an important tropical fruit, being commercialized and consumed all over the world. Its chain of production generates thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue every year. Managing weeds in a pineapple field, however, is still quite a challenge. For its characteristics such as slow growth and plant architecture, it is not considered a competitive plant, so the weeds tend to win when competing for environmental resources. To decrease the impact of competition, these weeds have to be managed, preferably in a way that causes minimum economic and environmental impacts. As a result of this need for control and the need to reduce production costs, many producers, especially on small areas, are opting for chemical management, often without the necessary caution. There are several control methods the pineapple grower can use to prevent losses caused by weed, but the most important, after all, is to make sure that all these methods are used together, in an Integrated Weed Management system. The current management techniques, associated to the knowledge about the weeds, allow the production of pineapple in a sustainable way and can be used by the most diverse producers around the world to serve different markets.