March 2006. Pineapple growing is a new to the Amerindian communities in Guyana with a ready market for organic fruit. The pineapples are grown in the forest areas after slashing and burning the forest cover. They have been doing well until recently when the farmers started complaining of a problem. After 6-8 months, the leaves loose their green color and start drying from the tips, and ultimately the whole plant dies. When uprooted the middle part is often rotten and smelly. No insect pests (and nematodes) were found associated with this problem.

In the fields surveyed, the damage is high (estimated to be 25-40%). It is a new problem and the farmers are worried.

Pineapple heart rot caused by Phytophthora species was thought a possibiliy. It was suggested that a search on the Internet would result in a lot of information. Look up “Pineapple Heart Rot”.

A second suggestion from members was to look for tiny mites at the base of the leaves. Pull out individual leaves and look for reddish-brown lesions with mites around the edges. Look at some of the younge leaves first. This problem was seen in Samoa in 2005. In that case, the mite was Steneotarsonemus – from memory.