Select sites with deep well drained soil without high water table.
Provide adequate irrigation facilities.
Selection of mother palms
Select mother palms showing earliness and regularity in bearing, high percentage of fruit set and dwarf to semi-tall stature.
Selection of seed nuts
Select fully tree-ripe nuts from middle bunches during mid season.
Seeds harvested may be lowered using a rope to avoid damage.
Discard nuts, which are undersized, malformed and low in weight.
Seeds weighing 41-45 grams show 90 percent germination potential.
It is best to sow the seeds immediately after harvesting. If that is not possible, keep them in the shade and sow them within a week.
Planting
Nursery techniques
Sow selected seed nuts soon after harvest in nursery bed with stalk-end up and
with a spacing of 5-6 cm.
Cover the seed nuts with sand and irrigate daily.
The seeds will start to sprout in forty days.
Once they sprout, irrigation on alternate days is sufficient.
Transplant 90 days old sprouts having 2-3 leaves to the secondary nursery.
Prepare secondary nursery beds of 150 cm width and convenient length.
Apply cattle manure @ 5 t ha-1 as basal dose.
Transplant sprouts at a spacing of 30 cm x 30 cm.
Provide shade by growing banana, Coccinia indica etc. or by means of artificial pandal. Plant banana in advance at a spacing of 2.7 m x 3.6 m when it is grown as a shade crop. Provide irrigation monsoon. Periodical weeding and mulching are necessary.
Selection of seedlings
Select good seedlings for transplanting in the main field when they are 12-18 months old.
Selection of seedlings can be based on the selection index.
For obtaining the selection index, multiply number of leaves with 40 and subtract the plant height from the obtained value.
Choose the seedling with selection index value in between 50 – 150. Higher the selection index, higher the productivity.
Eg: Height = 90 cm; No. of leaves = 5
Selection index= (5x40)-90=110
Note:
Plant characters such as girth at the collar one year after transplanting and number of nodes two years after transplanting are highly correlated with yield.
Removal of plants with poor collar girth and lesser number of nodes one and two years after planting respectively,will help to increase the yield potential of plantations.
Field planting
Plant tall, quick growing shade trees on the southern and western sides of the plantation to provide protection from sun scorching.
Plant seedlings in pits at a spacing of 2.7 m x 2.7 m with north-south alignment, the
rows being deflected at an angle of 35º towards west.
Dig pits of size 60 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm and fill up with rich topsoil to a level of 15 cm from the bottom.
Plant seedlings at the centre of pit, cover with soil up to collar level and press around.
The planting is to be done during May-June in well-drained soils and during August-September in clayey soils.
Banana may be planted between rows to provide shade in the initial stages up to 4-5 years.
