NextEnd. INTRODUCTION Bananas can be commercially propagated through either suckers or tissue culture plants. The banana fruit is seedless and therefore.

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INTRODUCTION

Bananas can be commercially propagated through either suckers or

tissue culture plants.

The banana fruit is seedless and therefore cannot be grown from

seeds.

Propagation of bananas is done vegetatively.

This is the increase of plants using parts of the parent plant rather

than seeds.

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Vegetative Propagation

Advantages of vegetative propagation are numerous.

Vegetatively propagated plants grow faster than seed grown ones.

Unlike seed – grown plants, vegetatively grown plants are an exact copy

of the parent plant.

Thus one can easily predict all the characteristics of the newly grown

banana. Vegetative propagation is important for keeping the good

characteristics of a particular species.

Bananas produced vegetative propagation has the same genetic

constitution as the parent; hence under similar conditions one can easily

predict the cropping hectare. In addition, they produce fruits in the same

year of planting.

This is because the new plants have been extracted from adult plants that

are already bearing fruits

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Vegetative propagation also has disadvantages. For example, they

have poor anchorage because the root system has less time to

develop and multiplication is much slower than with seed propagation.

How to Propagate Banana Plans

Lacking seeds, propagation typically involves removing and

transplanting part of the underground stem (called a corm).

Usually this is done by carefully removing a sucker (a vertical shoot

that develops from the base of the banana pseudo stem) with some

roots intact.

Two types of suckers can be distinguished and these are:

Sword suckers

Water suckers

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The figure below shows the differences in the two types of suckers.

Sword sucker Water sucker

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The sword sucker has a spear shape or outline. This indicates a strong attachment to the mother plant. The water sucker on the other hand has broad leaves and appears to be watery. This indicates weak attachment to the mother plant. It is thus advisable to only use sword suckers for propagation.

Sucker selection and treatments

Sword suckers of 1.5 to 2.0 kg weight, free from diseases and

nematodes should be used.

They are prepared by trimming off the roots and decayed portion of the

corm and cutting the pseudostem leaving 20 cm from the corm.

The suckers can be graded and grouped based on their size before

planting.

To avoid wilt disease in Rasthali, Monthan, Ney Vannan, Virupakshi

and other wilt susceptible varieties, infected portions of the corm may

be pared, dipped for 5 minutes in 0.2% Carbendizim solution (2 g in 1

lit of water) prior to planting.

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The pared corms may be dipped in a slurry solution of 4 parts clay plus 5

parts water and can be sprinkled with 40 g of Carbofuran 3 G granules to

control nematodes.

Alternatively, the corms can also be dipped in with 0.75% Monocrotophos (2

ml Monocrotophos 36 WSC / 1 of water), shade dried for atleast 24 hours

and planted.

 In some countries, commercial propagation occurs by means of tissue

culture.

This is a specialized process. Pieces cut from the banana stem are placed

in a culture solution containing nutrients and growth chemicals.

The growth chemicals cause roots and shoots to appear and grow.

The seedlings are cared for in trays. They are then transferred from the

trays to pots. Usually they remain in the pots for 2-3 months before planting.

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Tissue Cultured Propagation

At present, tissue culture plants of choice varieties of banana are

commercially available.

The cost of these planting materials is higher compared to suckers,

but so also the benefits.

The plants are initially free from disease inoculum and hence proved

to be very vigourous once they establish in the field.

Occasionally, some plants may show distinctly different traits than

that is normally expected in the field.

These variations are known as somaclonal variations and they

primarily occur due to improper cultural conditions when the supplier

propagated them under laboratory

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such variations are noted in more than 5% of the plants supplied then

the income to the grower will be affected significantly.

These somaclonal variant plants may take longer duration for

shooting and harvest and sometimes they may not yield any

marketable bunches.

Hence, the growers should ensure the quality of plants supplied

before planting. Only uniform sized, hardened plants should be

procured for planting.

Compared to conventional suckers, the tissue culture plants will

easily suffer post planting diseases due to soil borne pathogens such

as Erwinia bacterial wilt.

Hence, periodical drenching with bleaching powder @ 2 g/l at an

interval of 10-15 days can be taken up if such infection is noted.

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Systems of cultivation in Tamil Nadu

Bananas are grown either under garden land conditions or wetland

conditions (after paddy) either as annual crops or sometimes allowed

for ratooning.

In certain areas such as deltaic ‘Padugai’ lands of Thanjavur district,

perennial cultivation of bananas is a common practice.

Similarly, the hill bananas in Shevroys and Lower Pulney hills are

also cultivated in the perennial system.

They are planted principally as a commercial mixed crop along with

coffee in these hills of Tamil Nadu to derive additional income.

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Choosing a Site The land must be flat or a gentle slope. The risk of erosion is increased if the slope

becomes too steep. With erosion comes poor anchorage of the plant making it more

likely to fall over

The land must be close to an all-year-round water source such as stream, river,

water canal, borehole etc. This is so because bananas require adequate water supply

throughout the year.

The chosen land must be protected from strong wind, animals and thieves which may

cause damage or loss of yield.

The area must be frost-free as frost damages both the leaves and fruit causing a

reduction in the quantity or quality of yield.

Heavy clays need to be avoided because of poor drainage in as much as sands

should as they harbour nematodes.

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FIELD PREPARATION AND MANAGEMENT

Soil

Alluvial soils of river valleys are ideal for banana growing.

Bananas prefer an acid soil but if the pH is below 5.0 lime should be

applied the second year.

Low pH makes bananas more susceptible to Panama disease.

Where water logging is likely, bananas and plantains are grown on

raised beds.

Low, perennially wet soils require draining and dry soils require

irrigation.

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Wet land In wet lands no painstaking preparatory cultivation is needed.

Planting is carried out in small pits accommodating the corms.

It will be necessary to take 60 cm deep trenches around a block of 4-

6 plants to serve both as irrigation canals and drainage channels.

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The land can be ploughed 2-4 times and leveled. A pit size of 45 cm

x 45 cm x 45 cm is normally required.

The pits are to be refilled with topsoil, mixed with 10 kg of FYM, 250 g

of neem cake and 50 g of Lindane 1.3% to each pit.

The suckers are planted at the centre of the pit keeping a portion of

the pseudostem above the ground level and the soil should be pressed

around.

Garden land

Padugai

In the padugai lands one deep mammutti digging is sufficient and the corms are planted at the required spacing after scooping the soil.

The pits are refilled with topsoil, mixed with 10 kg of FYM, 250 of Neem cake and 50 g of Lindane 1.3% to each pit.

Hill banana It is necessary to remove the scrub jungle initially. If trees are present

at the borders of the land, they need not be disturbed as they may serve as wind breaks.

Stone embankments can be raised to avoid soil erosion. The pits can be dug at the required spacing and corms planted. The pits are refilled with topsoil mixed with 10 kg of FYM, 250 g of

Neem cake and 50 g of Lindane 1.3% to each pit.

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PLANTING

Planting Time

The best times for planting bananas are January/February period and

August/September period, because conditions are more ideal during

these times.

The timing also ensures that flowering of the plant does not initiate

during the peak of winter. Such a coincidence will result in malformed

bananas, a condition called November dump because it occurs when

bananas are planted around November.

Plants planted in the January/February period take a longer time to

grow but are likely to produce bigger bunches (fruit) than the

August/September plants.

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August/September plants grow faster because of the hot season and

later the rainy season but are unlikely to produce bigger bunches

Season of planting in tamil nadu

The planting season and the choice of varieties may vary with the

system of cultivation in parts of Tamil Nadu.

The planting season should be so chosen to avoid any

environmental interference to the normal growth of the plant

especially during the 5th to 7th month.

Wet landsFebruary – April: Poovan, Rasthali, Monthan,

Karpooravalli and Ney PoovanApril – May : Nendran and Robusta

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Garden lands

January-February and November-December.

Padugai lands

January-February and August-September

Hill Banana

April-May (lower Pulney hills), June-August (Sirumalai)

As a general practice, the cultivars Dwarf Cavendish, Robusta and

Nendran are not recommended for ratooning because of nematode

build up in the soil in the ratoon crop cycle.

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PLANTING

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Fill the hole with water a day before

planting.

Fill the hole with top soil and if

necessary, some of the subsoil to

obtain the correct planting depth.

15 centimeters of the pseudo

stem should be below ground level.

Place the sucker in the hole.

Use the planting stick to make sure

the plant is placed midway between

the two pegs.

The top of the underground stem

should be 15cm below ground

level.

Cover with 10cm of soil.

Cover with 10cm of soil

Make a basin (about 90cm

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After planting follow watering guideline as per chapter 5. 2–3 weeks

after planting apply 16g of Temik per plant. Dig a shallow trench

around the plant and spread the Temik. Cover up the Temik with soil.

After 1-2 months of planting check and replace poorly growing plants.

Either replace the plant, or if the plant was only damaged during

planting but still looks healthy, the plant can be cut just below the

damaged part.

Keep the basin area clean and well watered. Remove weeds by hand

from the basis to avoid damaging the roots. Weeds outside of the

basin need to be slashed to avoid soil erosion.

SpacingThe spacing will vary from variety to variety depending on topography,

soil fertility, system of cultivation etc. The normal spacing under conventional system of planting for the different varieties are as follows.

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System Variety SpacingNo. of

plants / ha

Garden land Robusta, NendranDwarf Cavendish

1.8 x 1.8 m1.5 x 1.5 m

3086

4444

Wet land Poovan, Monthan, Rasthali,

Ney Vannan, Ney Poovan

2.1 x 2.1 m 2267

Hills Virupakshi (Sirumalai), Namarai and Ladan

3.6 x 3.6 m 750

Spacing in different systems