KAU Agri Infotech Portal

Banana (Musa spp.)

Regular irrigation is essential for banana cultivation, especially for Nendran, to achieve good yields.
During summer months, irrigate once in three days.
About 6-10 irrigations per crop may be given depending upon soil conditions.
Banana var. Nendran (October planting) grown under deep water table conditions (below 2 m from ground level) needs 10 mm (40 l/plant) irrigation once in two days during summer season to ensure higher bunch yield and better water use efficiency.
Mulching the basin with 3.5 kg paddy straw (waste quality) will considerably improve the bunch yield.
When cultivating Palayankodan banana, which is dependent on rain, 9 litres of water should be provided every 15 days until April-May
Ensuring proper drainage is as important as irrigation
With the onset of the rainy season, 20 - 30 cm. deep furrows should be dug at a rate of one for every two or three rows of bananas to facilitate water drainage.

To get a large bunch, weed the banana plantation until it is six months old after planting.
If resorted to hand weeding, give 4-5 surface diggings depending on weed growth.
Avoid deep digging.
During early stages, complete control of weeds could be obtained by raising cowpea in the interspaces.
If green manure crop is grown, weeding operations can be reduced to 1-2 diggings.
In gardens where this is not possible, pre-emergence application of diuron 1.5 kg/ha or oxyfluorfen 0.2 kg/ha is effective.
Weeds emerging later could be controlled by the application of glyphosate 0.4 kg/ha.
Do not disturb soil after plants start producing bunches
At this stage, it is best to cut the weeds at the base of the banana plant.
This will help the banana plant stay more firmly in the soil, prevent waterlogging at the base, and help new roots to form, which will help the shoots grow stronger.

The side suckers that develop before the emergence of bunch should be destroyed by trampling, poking with a stick, or tearing them apart in a way that does not harm the mother banana.
Retain one or two suckers produced after the emergence of bunch.

It was found that pruning the male bud had resulted in some increase in both the length and circumference of the fruit.
In the case of yield also, there was a significant increase of 0.9 kg in the mean bunch weight of pruned plants which worked out to 7.5 per cent increase in yield
Other advantages in pruning the male bud include extra monetary returns by sale of male buds which are used as vegetable
It was observed that the banana thrips which attack the fruit and cause unsightly brown freckling on the fruit, live and breed in the male buds in large numbers. The removal of the male buds obviously results in less damage from this pest.

One of the important problems facing banana growers is the lodging of plants with mature or immature bunches during heavy winds and cyclones.
The plants are uprooted or broken at the middle resulting in heavy losses to the growers To overcome this problem, the plants have to be propped with bamboos poles.
The top of the prop is placed against the throat of the plant, under the curvature of the bunch stem.

Leaf trimming is an important operation for controlling certain leaf diseases and for promoting light penetration.
Trimming is the removal of the dead leaves that hang down the sides of the pseudostem. It is very important that only the dead and diseased leaves are cut and removed and not the still green leaves that often hang down the side of the pseudostem.
By removing those green leaves, the photosynthetic area is reduced and the final bunch size is affected.
Leaf removal may be done throughout the growing season. By keeping the plantation clean, more light and heat are available for promoting plant growth.

The main purposes are the protection of bunches against cold, sun scorching, attack of thrips and scarring beetle.
It also improves certain visual qualities of the fruits. Bunch covering with dry leaves is a common practice in India, which, however, may be a source of inoculum for post-harvest diseases.

Earthing up should be done during the rainy season to provide drainage, and to avoid waterlogging at the base.
During summer and winter, the plants should be in furrow and on ridges during rainy season.

It is profitable to plant cucumbers or amaranthus as an intercrop in bananas planted during September-October.
Cucumbers can be harvested 95 days after planting for vegetable purposes and 130 days after planting for seed purposes.
Growing tubers such as yam and colocasia as intercrops in banana plantations will help in generating higher returns.

Pre harvest bunch sprays of 3 per cent K2 SO4 (3 g in 100 ml of distilled water) twice, the first two weeks after bunch emergence and the second four weeks after bunch emergence increases the fruit yield substantially and consumer preferences in Nendran banana.