Hainan Pineapple Institute Unveils New Domestic Red Varieties

The Hainan Hongxin Pineapple Industry Technology Research Institute was officially inaugurated on Sept. 16, 2026, at an industry event in Sanya focused on advancing the pineapple sector.

The institute’s headline achievement, unveiled at its founding, is a new series of red pineapple varieties dubbed Bote Red. After nine years of independent research, the team behind the institute has bred 12 new pineapple varieties, led by Bote Red No. 1, also known as Red Charm. Developing Bote Red No. 1 and Bote Red CH02 required overcoming several key technical challenges, including making the red-skin trait breed true and reliably across plants as well as combining traits suited for both fresh consumption and ornamental display within the same plant. Both varieties were named by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on its 2025 “Spark Technology” (火花技术) list — a program that flags promising, early-stage agricultural innovations for further development support — and have been designated as key varieties for Sanya’s agricultural sector to promote in 2026.

Red pineapple germplasm resources are scarce worldwide, and the Bote Red series fills a domestic gap in red pineapple varieties developed and owned in China. Bote Red No. 1 retains a vivid red skin from fruit set through ripening, with crisp, fragrant flesh and a sugar content reaching around 19 degrees Brix.

The institute’s new varieties are currently undergoing ecological adaptation trials and initial commercial planting in Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other regions. Authorized planting now covers 500 mu (33 hectares), patent licensing covers 100,000 mu (6,667 hectares) and varietal licensing covers 5,000 mu (333 hectares) of planted area. At its 300-mu (20-hectare) research, trial and technology-transfer demonstration base in Sanya and Lingao, the institute has the capacity to propagate up to 10 million seedlings.

Drawing on its qualifications for importing and exporting seedlings, the institute has reached strategic cooperation agreements with pineapple enterprises in Madagascar and Sri Lanka, and it has also signed a letter of intent for seedling exports with Huangli Shijie (黄梨世界) in Malaysia. Over the next three years, it plans to export 5 million pineapple seedlings and license 32 supporting patented technologies abroad — enough, by its own estimate, to support around 20,000 mu (1,333 hectares) of pineapple cultivation overseas.

Image: Nanhai Net (hinews.cn)

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.