Pineapple (Ananas comosus), a tropical edible plant, is the most economically significant crop in the family Bromeliacea. The ALOHA (Assessment of Local Options for Hawaii Agriculture) pineapple model was developed based on the CERES-maize model structure but has diverged considerably over time. The model is a physiologically-based, process-oriented crop model that is incremented on a daily time step. It simulates crop response to environmental factors and management practices. The model was calibrated and tested using data sets from several important producing countries with different environments (southeastern Queensland,Australia, Cote d’Ivoire, Hawaii, USA, and Thailand).

Three growth phases are modeled, the vegetative phase from transplant to forcing (application of a growth regulator), from forcing to opening of the first flower, and from time of flowering to harvest. User-specified applications of growth regulators are used to force flowering, a management practice used by all commercial growers of pineapple.

The ALOHA model was added to DSSAT v4.7 in 2017.

References

Malézieux, E., J. Zhang, E.R. Sinclair, D.P. Bartholomew. 1994. Predicting pineapple harvest date in different environments using a computer simulation model. Agronomy Journal 86:609-617.

Zhang, J. 1992. Computer simulation of pineapple growth, development, and yield. Dissertation to the Graduate Division of the University of Hawaii.

Zhang, J. and D.P. Bartholomew. 1993. Simulation of pineapple growth, development, and yield. Acta Horticulturae 334.

Malézieux, E., J. Zhang, D.P. Bartholomew. ALOHA-Pineapple v2.1: A computer model to predict the growth, development and yield of pineapple