Varieties
Dessert
Robusta, Dwarf Cavendish, Grand Naine, Rasthali, Vayal vazhai, Poovan, Nendran, Red Banana, Karpooravalli, Co.1, Matti, Sannachenkadali, Udayam and Neypoovan are popular varieties in banana. Cavendish groups are generally prefered in export market.
Culinary
Monthan, Vayal vazhai, Ash Monthan and Chakkia are cultivated for culinary purpose. Nendran is a dual purpose variety used for dessert and culinary.
Hill areas
The popular varieties of bananas suitable for hilly areas are Virupakshi, Sirumalai and Namarai. Red Banana, Manoranjitham (Santhana vazhai) and Ladan are also cultivated in hills.
Step By Step How to Grow
1) Soil and Climate
Well drained loamy soils are suitable for banana cultivation. Alkaline and saline soils should be avoided.
2) Selection and pre-treatment of suckers
Select sword suckers of 1.5 to 2.0 kg weight which are free from diseases and nematodes. Trim the roots and decayed portion of the corm, cut the pseudostem leaving 20 cm from the corm and grade the suckers to size. To avoid wilt disease in Rasthali, Monthan, Virupakshi and other wilt susceptible varieties, infected portions of the corm may be pared and dipped for 5 minutes in 0.1% Emisan solution (1 g in 1 lit of water). Pralinage is done with 40 g of Carbofuran 3 G granules per sucker. (Dip the corm in slurry solution containing 4 parts clay plus 5 parts water and sprinkle Carbofuran to control nematodes). Alternatively, dip the corm with 0.75% Monocrotophos, shade dry for atleast 24 hours and plant. Sow Sunhemp on 45th day; incorporate it after about a month. This operation reduces nematode build up.
Use tissue cultured banana plants with 5-6 leaves. At the time of planting, apply 25 g Pseudomonas fluorescence / plant.
3) Field preparation
Wet lands
No preparatory cultivation is necessary.
Garden land
2 – 4 ploughings are required before planting.
Padugai
One deep spade digging is essential.
Hill Banana
Clean the jungle and construct contour stone walls before planting.
Wet lands
Place the suckers at ground level and earth up at stages.
Garden land, Padugai and Hill Banana
Dig pits of 45 cm x 45 cm x 45 cm size. 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.
4) Spacing
| S.No. |
System of Planting |
Planting Distance |
Plant population /ha |
| 1. |
Dwarf Cavendish |
1.5 x 1.5 |
4440 |
| 2. |
Robusta and Nendran |
1.8 x 1.8 |
3080 |
| 3. |
Rasthali, Poovan, Karpooravalli, Monthan |
2.1 x 2.1 |
2260 |
| 4. |
Paired row |
1.2 x 1.2 x 2.0 |
5200 |
| 5. |
2-Suckers /hill |
1.8 x 3.6 |
3200 |
| 6. |
3-Suckers/hill |
1.8 x 3.6 |
4800 |
High density planting can be adopted for higher productivity. Plant 3 suckers / pit at a spacing of 1.8 x 3.6m (4600 plants/ha) for Cavendish varieties and 2 m x 3 m for Nendran (5000 plants/ha).
Irrigation
Irrigate immediately after planting; give life irrigation after 4 days; subsequent irrigations are to be given once in a week for garden land bananas and once in 10 – 15 days for wetlands. Irrigate the fields copiously after every manure application. Use drip irrigation @ 5-10 litres/plant/day from planting to 4th month, 10-15 litres/plant/day from 5th to shooting and 15 litres /plant/day from shooting to till 15 days prior to harvest.
Drip Irrigation Schedule:
| S.No |
Crop Growth Stage |
Duration (Weeks) |
Quantity of Water
(1/Plant) |
|---|
| 1. |
After Planting |
1-4 |
4 |
| 2. |
Juvenile Phase |
5-9 |
8-10 |
| 3. |
Critical Growth Stage |
10-19 |
12 |
| 4. |
Flower bud differentiation Stage |
20-32 |
16-20 |
| 5. |
Shooting Stage |
33-37 |
20 and above |
| 6. |
Bunch Development Stage |
38 x 50 |
20 and above |
Inter cropping:
Leguminous vegetables, beetroot, elephant foot yam and sunhemp can be grown as intercrops. Avoid growing cucurbitaceous vegetables.
Fertilizers
Manures and fertilizers (Kg per tree)
| Details |
N |
P |
K |
Garden land
Varieties other than Nendran
Nendran |
110*
150 |
35*
90 |
330*
300 |
Wetland
Nendran
Rasthali
Poovan, Robusta |
210
210
160 |
35
50
50 |
450
390
390 |
* For Tissue culture banana, apply 50% extra fertilizers at 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th month after planting.
Hill bananas:
After forming semicircular basins on uphill side, apply 375 g of 40:30:40 NPK mixture, plus 130 g muriate of potash per clump per application during October, January and April. Preceding the chemical fertilizer application, apply Azospirillum and Phosphobacterium @ 20 gm each at planting and 5th month after planting.
Apply N as Neem coated urea. Apply N and K in 3 splits on 3rd, 5th and 7th month, Phosphorous at 3rd month of planting. Apply 20 g in each of Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria during planting and five months after planting. (This should be applied prior to chemical fertilizer application).
The fertigation technique must be followed for maximizing the productivity. Apply 200:30:300 g N: P2O5 : K2O / plant using water soluble fertilizers along with 25 litres of water/day. For economizing the cost of fertilizers, fertigate using normal fertilizers (Urea and Muriate of potash) with 50% of the recommended dose along with recommended dose of phosphorus as basal at 2nd month after planting. Fertigate at weekly intervals as per the following schedule.
Fertigation Scheduling
| Stage |
Units / day |
Kg/ha/day |
| N |
P2O5 |
K2O |
N |
P2O5 |
K2O |
|---|
|
Days after Planting |
| 1- 150 days |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3.24 |
0.82 |
1.03 |
| 151 - 240 days |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1.08 |
1.23 |
2.06 |
| 241 - 270 days |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1.08 |
0.41 |
2.06 |
| 271 - 360 days |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
3.08 |
After Cultivation
Garden Land
Digging at monthly intervals and earthing up of soil will facilitate better establishment of plants. Desuckering should be done at monthly intervals. The dry and diseased leaves are removed and burnt to control the spread of leaf spot diseases. Male flowers may be removed a week after opening of last hand. In Robusta banana, floral ruminants may be removed a week after opening of the last hand to avoid ‘fingertip disease’. The plants at flowering stage may be propped. Cover the peduncle with flag leaf to prevent main stalk end rot. Cover the bunch with banana leaves to avoid sunscald. Polythene bunch cover will improve the external appearance of banana fruits.
Wetland
Form trenches in between alternate rows and cross trenches at every 5th row. The trenches are periodically deepened and the soil is spread over the bed. Surface diggings may be given at bi-monthly intervals and desuckering at monthly intervals. Remove the male flower a week after opening of last hand. Prop plants at or prior to flowering. Cover the peduncle with flag leaf and the bunch with leaves to avoid sunscald. For ratoon crops in respect of Poovan, Monthan and Rasthali allow the follower at flowering stage of the mother plant and remove the other suckers during harvest.
Perennia banana
Surface digging should be done once in two months. One deep digging may be given during January – February. Other operations should be done as similar in garden land.
Hill banana
Give four forkings in January, April, July and October. Remove outer sheaths to keep the corm inside the soil and ward off borer. Maintain two bearing plants and two followers per clump along the contour.
Growth regulators
To improve the grade of bunches 2, 4-D at 25 ppm (25 mg/lit) may be sprayed on Poovan and Co 1 banana after the last hand has emerged. This will also help to remove seediness in Poovan variety. Spray CCC 1000 ppm at 4th and 6th month after planting.
Micronutrients
Spray micronutrients viz., ZnSO4 (0.5%), FeSO4 (0.2%), CuSO4 (0.2%) and H3BO3 (0.1%) and 3, 5 and 7 MAP to increase yield and quality of banana.
Plant Protection
Pests
Corm weevil
Apply lindane 1.3% 20 g/plant or carbaryl 10 – 20 g/plant in the soil around the stem.
Stem weevil
Remove dried leaves periodically and keep the plantation clean. Prune the suckers every month. Spray Monocrotophos 36 WSC @ 1 ml/lit of water. Alternatively, dilute 54 ml of Monocrotophos 36 WSC with 350 ml of water and inject 4 ml (2 ml at 45 cm from the ground level another 2 ml 150 cm from the ground level) in the pseudostem at monthly interval from 5th to 8th month. Do not dump infected materials in the manure pit. Infected trees should be uprooted, chopped into pieces and burnt.
Banana aphid
The pest is the vector for Bunchy top virus disease. Spray any one of the following systemic insecticides to control it. Phosphamidon 2 ml/lit or Methyl demeton 2 ml/lit or Monocrotophos 1 ml/lit or Dimethoate 30 EC 2 ml/lit. The spray may be directed towards crown and pseudostem base upto ground level at 21 days interval atleast thrice. Injection of Monocrotophos 36 WSC 1 ml/plant (1 ml diluted in 4 ml of water) at 45 days interval from the 3rd month till flowering is very effective. Use ‘Banana injector’ devised by the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University. Avoid injection of Monocrotophos after flowering.
Thrips and Lace wing bugs
Spray Methyl demeton 20 EC @ 2 ml/lit or Monocrotophos 36 WSC @ 1 ml/lit or Phosphamidon 40 SL @ 2ml/lit.
Diseases
Sigatoka leaf spot
Remove affected leaves and burn. Spray any one of the following fungicides commencing from November at monthly interval. Carbendazim 1 g/lit., Benomyl 1 g/lit., Mancozeb 2 g/lit., Copper oxychloride 2.5 g/lit., Ziram 2 ml/lit, Chlorothalonil 2 g/lit. Alternation of fungicides for every spray prevents fungicidal resistance. Always add 5 ml of wetting agent like Sandovit, Triton AE, Teepol etc. per 10 lit of spray fluid.
Anthracnose
Spray copper oxychloride 0.25% or Bordeaux mixture 1% or chlorothaloail 0.2% or Carbendazim 0.1%.
Post harvest dipping of fruits in Carbendazim 400 ppm, or Benomyl 1000 ppm.
Bunchy-top
The Banana Aphid Pentalonia nigronervosa is the vector of Bunchy-top virus disease. Spray Phosphamidon 1 ml/lit or Methyl Demeton 2 ml/lit or Monocrotophos 1 ml/lit to control it. The sprays may be directed towards crown and pseudostem base upto ground level at 21 days interval atleast thrice. Injection of Monocrotophos 36 WSC 1 ml/plant (1 ml diluted in 4 ml of water) at 45 days interval from the 3rd month till flowering is very effective. Use ‘Banana Injector’ devised by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Avoid injection of Monocrotophos after flowering.
To prevent the diseases Use virus-free suckers
Paring and pralinage
Pare the corm and sprinkle 40 g of Carbofuran 3 G over the Corm (Before sprinkling, corm should be dipped in mud slurry).
Destroy virus affected plants.
Insert a gelatin capsule containing 200 mg Fernoxone (2,4 – D) into the corm 7 cm deep using capsule applicator or inject 5 ml Fernoxone solution (125 gm/lit of water) into the pseudostem by using the injection gun. The plant collapses and topples in 3 – 5 days.
Crop duration and Harvest
The bunches will be ready for harvest after 12 to 15 months of planting
Harvest
Bunches attain maturity from 100 to 150 days after flowering depending on variety, soil, weather condition and elevation
Yield (t/ha/year)
Poovan:40–50
Monthan:30–40
Rasthali:40–50
Robusta:50–60
Dwarf Cavendish:50–60
Market Information
| Growing Districts |
Trichy, Coimbatore, Theni |
| Major Markets in Tamil Nadu |
Trichy, Coimbatore, Theni |
| Preferred Varieties and Hybrids |
Grand Naine, Dwarf Cavendish, Robusta, Rasthali, Poovan, Nendran, Red Banana, Ney Poovan, Pachanadan, Monthan, Karpuravalli |
| Grade Specification |
The hands are graded based on the number and size of fingers in each hand.
Overripe and injured fruits are discarded.
Banana is sent to the local market as bunches. |
Video