Free How To Grow Banana Tree Without Seed

 

Free How To Grow Banana Tree Without Seed

                                    

Banana: Musa sp.  

Botanical Name: Musa Paradisiaca

Subfamily: Musaceae

Origin: South East Asia

The banana is a major tropical fruit worldwide. Its cultivation has been popular globally since ancient times. India is one of the leading countries in banana production. It is widely used not only as a fresh fruit but also as a vegetable. In India, it is cultivated extensively in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, and West Bengal.

China ranks second in the world in banana production, and Indonesia ranks third.

Other major banana-producing countries include the Philippines, Ecuador, Brazil, and Nigeria.

‘Apple of paradise’

Rich source of energy (137 K. Ca/100g)

It is a good laxative.

Edible bananas are mostly hybrids of the two species.

M. acuminata, M. balbisiana. They set fruit by parthenocarpy.

Climate

The banana is a humid tropical fruit. The optimal temperature for its proper growth is 10° to 40° Celsius. Frost, strong winds, and excessive heat are detrimental to banana cultivation. In the plains of North India, frost in winter and strong winds and heatwaves in summer create unfavourable conditions for its cultivation.

Altitude: Up to 1500 mts from MSL.

Wind velocity of more than 80 m/hr will damage the crop heavily.

Rainfall: 100 mm/ month is good.

Soil

Bananas can be grown in various types of soil, but fertile, loamy, and deep soil is most suitable. High salinity and alkalinity in the soil are harmful to its cultivation. For successful cultivation, the soil pH should be between 6 and 7.

Season of planting

Wet land – Feb-April: Poovan, Rasthali, Monthan

April – May: Nendran, Robusta

Garden lands: January – February and November – December

Padugai lands: January – February and August – September

Hill banana:  April – May (lower Palani hills)

June – Aug (Sirumalai)

 How Do You Grow Bananas Without Seeds

Propagation by sucker

(I) Sword sucker – suckers with a well–developed base and pointed tip, having narrow sword-shaped leaf bladders in the early stage.

(II) Water sucker or broad-leaved sucker – small, undersized suckers of superficial origin bearing broad leaves.

Sword suckers – more vigorous, grow faster, and come into bearing early.

 Average weight of the sucker – 1.5 to 2 kg.

 Micropropagation through tissue culture – Rapid multiplication of banana suckers.

 Pretreatment of sucker: The roots and decayed portion of the corn are trimmed. 

The pseudo stem is cut, leaving 20 cm from the corn.

 To avoid wilt disease infected portion of the corn may be pared, dipped for 5 min in carbendazol 0.1% (1 gm in 1 liter of water) for wilt susceptible varieties – Monthan, Neyvannan, Virupahshi, etc.

 

Prolinase- with 40 g of carbofuran 3 G granules per sucker.

 The corn is dipped in a slurry solution of 4 parts of clay plus 5 parts water and sprinkled with carbofuran to control nematodes.

 Alternatively, dip the corn in 0.75% monocrotophos shade dried for at least 24 hours and plant.  Sow sun hemp on the 45th day, incorporate it after about a month.  This operation reduces nematode buildup.

 TC banana – plants with 5-6 leaves, planting-Pseudomonas fluorescence/plant 25 gm.

Field preparation

 The land is ploughed deeply and leveled.  The pits of size 45 cm3 are dug.  The pits are refilled with topsoil,  mixed with 10 kg of FYM, 250 g of neem cake, and 50 g of lindane 1.3%.

Spacing		Plants / ha
Garden land	1.8 x 1.8 m	3086
	1.5 x 1.5 m	4444
Wet land	2.1 x 2.1 m	2267
Hill	3.6 x 3.6 m	750

 High density planting – 3 suckers/pit at a spacing of 1.8 x 3.6 m  (4600 plants/ha).

 

Irrigation

 Irrigated immediately after planting, life irrigation – 4th day, subsequent irrigation once a week for garden land, 10-15 days in the wetland after manuring.  Drip irrigation – 15 liters/ plant/ day from planting to the 4th month.

 20 lit/plant/day from 5th to shooting and 25 lit/plant/day from shooting till 15 days prior to harvest.

 Application of fertilizers

	N	P	K
Garden land	(g/plant/year)
Other than Nendran	110	35	330
Nendran	150	90	300
Wet land
Nendran	210	35	450
Rasthali	210	50	390
Pooven and Robusta	160	50	390

 

Hill banana

 
375 g of 40:30:40 NPK mixture and 130 g MOP/clump per application during October, January, and April.  Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria – 20 g each at planting and 5th month after planting, preceding chemical fertilizer application.

Apply N as neem-coated urea.

N & K in 3 splits, 3rd, 5th, and 7th months, P at the 3rd month of planting.

For tissue culture banana, 50% extra fertilizer at the 2nd, 4th and 6th, and 8th months after planting.

For maximin productivity – fertigation.

25 liters of water / day + 200:30:300 g N: P₂O₅: K₂O /plant using water soluble fertilizer. 

For economizing the cost of fertilizers, fertigate using normal fertilizers (urea and MOP) with 30% of the recommended dose along with the recommended dose of P as basal at the 2nd month of planting.  

Fertigation schedule

Weeks after planting	N (%)	P2O5 (%)	K2O (%)
9-18 (10 weeks)	30	100	20
19-30 (12 weeks)	50	-	40
31-42 (12 weeks)	20	-	32
43-45 (3 weeks)	-	-	8
Total	100	100	100

 

Interculture

• Mammutid digging at bi-monthly intervals and earth-up

• De sucker- prune the side suckers at a monthly interval • Dry and dead leaves are removed and burnt.

• Male flower - removed a week after the opening of the last hand

• Bunch emergence – propping.  The trees are supported with bamboo or casuarina poles to avoid damage by wind. 

 How To Grow Banana Tree Without Seed

 Growth regulator

 Grade of bunch -2,4-D at 25 ppm (25 mg/lit) may be sprayed after the last hand has opened.  This also helps to remove the seediness in the poovan variety.  Spray CCC 1000 ppm in the 4th and 6th months after planting.  Spray Plantozyme @ 2ml/lit at the 6th and 8th months after planting to get a higher yield.

 

Micronutrient

 ZnSO4 (0.5%), FeSO4 (0.2%), CuSO4 (0.2%), and H3BO3 (0.1%) at 3, 5, and 7 MAP to increase the yield and quality of banana.

 

Bunch cover

 Use transparent polyethylene sleeves with 2% (during cool season)-4% (during summer season) ventilation to cover the bunches immediately after opening of the last hand.

 

Intercropping

 Leguminous vegetables, beet root, elephant foot yam, and sun hemp. Avoid growing cucurbitaceous vegetables.

 

Physiological disorders

Kottavazhai

In certain pockets of Tamil Nadu, the banana cv. Poovan is manifested with a peculiar developmental disorder, which is characterized by the presence of distinctly conical and ill-filled fruits with a prominent central core having many underdeveloped, non-viable, seedy structures, rendering the fruits inedible. This disorder can be overcome by spraying 2,4-D at 20 ppm when the last hand of bunch is opened. The same chemical at the same dose and same stage results in increased bunch weight and uniform grade, especially in cvs. Nendran and Monthan.

Hard lump

It is characterized by pinkish brown, firm pulp rather than the usual soft pulp that occurs in cv. Rasthali tastes like immature or unripe fruits. Spraying the bunches uniformly with 2,4-D at 1000 ppm or dipping the cut end of the peduncle of the bunches for a period of 5 minutes appears to favor the reduction of lumps and improve the size. Sunscald

·      The peduncle of the bunches may be covered with a flag leaf to prevent.

·      'Main stalk rot' and also the bunches with banana leaves to avoid sunscald.

 

Nematode

Bunchy top virus – Pentalonia nigronervosa.

Crop duration: bunches will be ready for harvest after 12-15 months of planting.

Viral diseases of banana 

1. Bunchy top-transmitted by Aphid Pentalonia nigronervosa  

Infected plants show short and narrow leaves together at the top of the pseudo-stem to form a bunch; hence, this disease is known as ‘Bunchy top’. The margins of leaves become wavy in the advanced stage of infection and roll upward. 

Management: (A) Remove all the affected plants along with the complete rhizome, planting of virus-free suckers. 

(B). control of banana aphid - spray 0.3% Rogar or Phosphomidon  Monocrotophos – 0.05% spray. 

 2. Banana bract mosaic virus- transmitted by Aphis gossypii, Pentalonia Nigro nervosa 

The name is derived from the conspicuous discoloration and necrotic streaks that develop on the bracts of the male bud. Spindle-shaped discoloration found on the pseudo-stem. 

Management: Effective control is similar to that of other viral diseases. It requires early detection and immediate eradication of infected plants.

3. Banana Streak - Transmitted by citrus mealy bug –Plano coccus cirri

Foliar symptoms resemble those of banana mosaic, especially in the early stages. Later, the development of necrotic streaks

 

Fungal diseases of banana 

1. Panama wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.cubense)  

Yellowing of leaf blades, leaves wither, and the petiole breaks or buckles and hangs around the pseudo-stem. Longitudinal splitting of the pseudo-stem and subsequent death of the entire plant. 

Management: 

·      Removal of infected plants and application of lime @ 2kg/pit and leave it fallow for 6 months

·      Growing resistant varieties like Dwarf Cavendish, Poovan, and Nendran

·      Crop rotation with paddy in wetland cultivation

·      Capsule application of 50-60mg of carbendazim applied to the hole made at an angle of 45 degrees diagonally in the disease’s corm. 

2. Sigatoka leaf spot disease -Mycosphaerella musicola

Yellowish green streaks appear along the veins, which later on enlarge into elongated/cylindrical spots. Several spots join together and cause drying of the leaves. 

 

Management

·      Spray copper oxy chloride or carbendazim @ 500g/ha

·      Avoid close planting 

  Free How To Grow Banana Tree Without Seed

Bacterial diseases     

1. Moko wilt (Pseudomonas solanacearum)       

On leaves, yellowing starts from the inner leaf close to the petiole and slowly spreads upward. All the leaves turn yellow, and wilting occurs. Management

·      Good drainage facilities

·      Suppress the wilt by bacterization with Inflorescent

·      Crop rotation with sorghum 

 

2. Tip over or heart rot (Erwinia carotovora)

Seen mostly in tissue-cultured plants. The middle tender leaf shows rotting. Pseudo stem easily comes out from the corm portion

·      Bacterial oozing from the edge of the corm and pseudo-stem is also noticed

·      Management

· Disease-free suckers

· The resistant variety Poovan can be grown   

Harvest

Bunches attain maturity from 100-150 days after flowering.

 

 Yield (t/ha/year)

Poovan – 40-50

Monthan – 30-40

Robusta – 50-60

Dwarf Cavendish -50-60