• Banana root system spreads in the top 60 cm soil. Being an exhaustive crop, proper manuring and fertilizer application has to be resorted to in obtaining good yields.
• The choice of fertilizers, the dosage of nutrients, time of application etc. varies widely with respect to agroclimatic regions and varieties.

The effects of proper fertilization of banana are

• increase of the crop yield by the improvement of grading, or of weight of bunch,
• reduction in crop duration
• increasing the number of marketable good quality bunches per hectare, and
• Improvement in quality, with physical and chemical characters leading to high return to farmers.

• Nitrogen is the chief promoter of growth. It induces the vegetative growth of pseudostem and leaves giving them desired healthy green colour.
• A healthy robust vegetative frame is an essential pre-requisite for high yields and nitrogen is mainly responsible for such a vegetative frame. Banana plants which have not received N produce only seven leaves against 17 leaves produced by banana plants supplied with adequate N.
• If N is deficient in bananas the leaves take 23 days for unfolding against 10 days for the leaves of banana supplied with N.
• It was observed that greater the number of healthy and large leaves produced during the first 4-6 months, larger will be the size of fruit bunch, N influences the longitudinal growth of petioles.
• Nitrogen increases the bunch grade, and sucker production. Nitrogen deficiency causes slow growth and paler leaves with reduced leaf area and rate of leaf production.
• Leaf petioles short, thin and compressed, thin profuse roots and lesser number of suckers is produced due to lack of N. Phosphorus uptake is higher due to N deficiency.

Nitrogen fertilization

Statewise fertilizer recommendations for banana

Mode of application of nitrogen

• Nitrogen should be applied in five split doses. Nitrogen is to be applied in five split doses one at the time of planting
  • 2^nd 45 days after planting (DAP)
  • 3^rd - 90 DAP
  • 4^th - 135 DAP
  • 5^th - 180 DAP
• For banana if 25 % nitrogen is applied in organic farm and remaining amount is applied through inorganic fertilizers that increases the yield.
• Application of 1 kilo neem cake as a inorganic nitrogen source for banana not only icreases the yield andd quality but also reduces the nematode problem considerably.
• Application of nitrogen at flowering and fruiting stage not only stops the leaf dropping but also increases the weigtht of the bunch.

• Plant population per unit area depends on cultivar, topography, soil fertility, various aspects of management and duration of plantation etc.
• In general, tall cultivators are given wider spacing than the dwarf ones. High density planting may be practiced in mono-crop culture, while wider spacing is advocated for ratoon crop.
• Tall cultivars 9 feet x 10 feet
• Dwarf cultivars 6 feet x 6 feet

• A density of 4,500 plants/ha is practiced in Maharashtra and Gujarat
• The palnt to palnt distance is 1.2 m , row to row ddistance is 1.5 m and between row to row is 2.0 m . considering the per hactare yield , net returns and quality of fruit spacing of 1.5 X 1.5 m corresponding to a plant population of 4,444 /ha was found to be optimum.
• The maximum profit in Dwarf Cavendish banana when spaced at 2m x 2m or 2.5m x 2.5 m. Closer spacing also produced higher yield of fruits.
• From a trial with Robusta banana spaced at 2.4 m x 1.8 m and 2.4 m x 2.4m, the highest yield was obtained with a spacing 2.4 m x 1.8m. Though there was higher yield in high density planting, the growth was found to be slower and shooting was delayed.
• Finger tip disease was severe in close planting. In high density plantation nearly 30 percent of the plants could not be harvested in time.

• If any damage is noticed to the corm of the sucker at the time of seperation of the suckers from the mother plant, the damaged portion of the corm may be clearly sliced off.
• The top portion of the pseudostem of the suckers may be gven a slant cut leaving six to nine inches psuedostem over the corm.
• This will fecilitate easy draining of plant sap, rainn water, leading to successful establishment of the suckers.
• But in coastal Andhra Pradesh the top portion of the sucker is retained while planting and deheaded to 2/3 size in about 20 days when growth is visible to maintain uniform height of the plantation.
• All the old roots of the rhizome should also be trimmed. The suckers thus prepared should be dipped in 0.1% Ceresan at the rate of 1g in one litre solution for five minutes and then planted.
• In areas of endemic for banana stem weevil, they should also be treated with 0.1% metasystox solution
• Only flat lands or lightly slopy lands can be selected for planting of banana. When banana is grown on hill slopes, soil conservation methods like bench terracing or contour bunding based on the gradient have to be necessarly adopted.
• Banana suckers should not be planted either too deep or too shallow. The suckers must be planted in the centre of the pit in such a way that the corm and another two inches of the pseudostem over it should submerge in the soil.
• Press the soil arround the sucker to avoid air spaces, to give firm stand to the stem and for better sprouting of the suckers.
• Suckers must be grouped according to their size and then planted.

Gapfilling

• Generally the banana suckers strikes roots within 10-15 days after planting, even after 15 days if there are no roots to the planted suckers it means it has died.
• Inspite of all precautions taken, some suckers may fail to sprout. This may be due to defective planting or defective plant material or defective irrigation. So, one should go around after 15 days in banana gardens and search for the causalities.
• All such causalities should immediately be gap filled with fresh sword suckers. Maintaining optimum population for unit area always leads to higher yields.
• So all gaps in the banana plantation must be filled with fresh suckers with in 20 days. This will also ensure fair uniformity in the stand of the crop.

Zinc

• Zinc deficiency is found in banana when it grows in zinc deficient soils. Narrow pointed and chlorite young leaves,Bunch top crowns are the symptoms of zinc deficiency
• Application of 50 g/plant zinc sulphate at the time of planting is recommended or foliar application of zinc sulphate at 3 g/litre + urea (5g per litre) + 10 ml non ionic sticker in 20 litres of water. The above prepared solution is sprayed at 45 and 60 days after planting.
• For ratoon crop 45 days after cutting the mother plant.

Boron

• Deficincy of boron may results in reduction in weight and size of the bunch and it will effects the proper filling of the bunch.
• For boran deficiency apply 20 g borax per litre at the time of planting of spray boric acid at 0.2 % in 4th of 5th month after planting.

Iron

• Iron deficiency has been recorded in alkaline soils and is identified by interveinal chlorosis of young leaves.
• Application of iron sulphate will correct the iron deficiency.