Chonburi’s governor kicked off the annual Sriracha Pineapple Consumption campaign, organized every year to promote the product of more than 19,000 rai in the province.
Activities and exhibitions were held June 5 to showcase the technology and productions of pineapple.
Sriracha currently has more than 19,900 rai of pineapple orchards with an estimated harvest of 6,476 kilograms per rai that are sent to industrial sites for canning, processing and packaging.
Samart Chuewongsa, representative from the Agricultural Office of Chonburi, said that the Sriracha Pineapple Consumption campaign is held annually to showcase the production of quality pineapples.
Gov. Khomsan Ekachai and friends try out the delicious pineapple on offer at the event.
Other activities include how to use pineapples in daily menus, such as traditional curry pastries, pineapple soup, and pineapple jelly. Juice and pineapple competitions also were held.
Gov. Khomsan Ekachai said pineapples grown locally are of the Batavia variety that was introduced by Chin Boonyanan of the Assumption School Sriracha.
Batavia pineapples are 4-5 times bigger than other local varieties and grow a lot faster. Every pineapple will have a label attached as “AC”, representing the Assumption School of Sriracha.
Sriracha farmers first planted the pineapples in 1957, but later in 1962 the market crashed and the prices of the products dropped massively.
In 1965, investors established an industry to privatize pineapple production and farmers have been satisfied ever since.
The fruits are now purchased by other industries. The profits of farming pineapples are small due to the expense of fertilizer, but it’s good for locals to continue to grow them as pineapples can be used for various purposes, Khomsan said.
