Banana cultivation guide

Banana cultivation guide.

Banana cultivation promises a very bright prospect economically. Banana (Musa sp.) is a prevalent tropical plant. This fruit is favoured by many people and consumed by various nations throughout the world.

Indonesia has a high diversity of bananas. There are at least ten superior banana varieties that are sold in the local and export markets.

The requirement for growing banana plants

Bananas are tropical plants. It grows well from the lowlands to an altitude of 1300 meters above sea level. The rainfall needed for this plant ranges from 1500 to 2500 mm per year with temperatures of 15-35 °C.

Banana plants can grow in almost all types of soil. However, the most suitable soil types are clay textured soils such as alluvial, which contains a lot of calcium and organic matter.

Seedling preparation

Seedlings have an essential role in banana cultivation. To get maximum results, always use seeds that are free of disease. It's best if we can get seeds of superior varieties from trusted institutions.

There are three types (forms) of seeds that can be used for banana cultivation:

• Child sapling,
• Stump sapling and,
• tissue culture sapling.

Child saplings are seedling taken from banana plants that have buds or children. The child is separated from an adult and healthy banana plant.

Stump saplings are obtained from harvested banana plant stump. The plants are dismantled, and the stump has taken (bottom base). The stubble is cleaned, and the stem is stripped without damaging the shoots. The hump core is then cut into pieces to the size of a bud, or 10x10x10 cm.
Then pieces of banana Stump sapling are planted in polybags. Seedlings of tubers are ready to be planted in the field for banana cultivation after 3-4 months.

Tissue culture is a technology for multiplying plants carried out in laboratories. Seedlings from tissue culture are usually free from all diseases and can be made in vast quantities. Seedling size is also uniform so that harvesting time is easier to manage.

Banana land preparation

• Make sure the land that will be used as a place for banana cultivation is free from Fusarium and Pseudomonas disease. If previously, the area had been infected by those diseases, do pests and diseases control correctly.
• Clean the land from weeds, and plough the soil with a depth of 30-40 cm.
• Make beds extending following the contour of the land. The space between beds is adjusted according to the planting spacing.
• Plant spacing is dependent on banana varieties. Barangan bananas, for example,  require a spacing of about 3 × 3 meters. With this planting distance, the maximum population is 1,000 plants per hectare.
• Don't forget to make a trench for drainage channel as deep as 1 meter every 50 meters.
• Let the soil to mature for about 2-5 weeks before planting.

Planting banana seeds

After the land is prepared, make a planting hole measuring 50x50x50 cm, following the specified planting spacing. Add 15 kg of manure per planting hole. One hectare of land requires 15 tons of manure as base fertilizer.

Banana plant care

Necessary care in banana cultivation includes fertilization, weed control, thinning tillers, cutting banana bunches and pest control.

Fertilization

Banana needs routine fertilization every three months. Fertilize the plant by inserting the fertilizer in a hole with a distance of 50 cm from the plant.

The following stages of fertilization are recommended:

• The first fertilizing is done at the age of 1-2 months after planting. Fertilizers given per banana plant family are Urea: 100 grams, SP36: 100 grams, KCl: 100 grams.
• Second fertilizing is done at 3-4 months. The dose is Urea: 100 grams, SP36: 100 grams, KCl: 100 grams.
• The 3rd fertilizing is done at 6-7 months. The dose is Urea: 150 grams, KCl: 200 grams.
• Fertilizing 4th is done at 9-10 months. The dose is Urea: 150 grams, KCl: 200 grams.

Weeding 

At the beginning of growth, around the first three months, we need to do weeding more intensively. Weed greatly disrupts banana growth because it will seize nutrients from the young banana that are still relatively weak.

After the plants are over five months old, we can weed less frequently because the plant canopy will cover the area around the plant, so that weed growth is inhibited.

Weeding can be done manually, but if the cultivation area is vast, we can use herbicides.

Thinning saplings

There are two functions of thinning saplings: supply of seedlings and caring for the parent plant to get maximum fruiting.

Try to keep a maximum of 3 plants (1 parent + 2 saplings) in a single cluster.

Specifically, for Cavendish type bananas, there should only be two trees in a family, consisting of one parent and one sapling.

Not all shoots that grow can be used as seedlings for nurseries. The number of saplings that can be taken in one family depends on the population of bananas per cluster.

Saplings criteria that can be selected for breeding are:

• The shoots come from the parent tree, and not from a mature child. Shoots taken from an adult child have weak growth, are susceptible to disease and may even die early.
• Shoots height between 20-40 cm.
• The tuber shape enlarges down.
• Looks healthy, and has good leaf buds.

Banana Wrapping

The purpose of wrapping is to prevent bananas from being attacked by pests and diseases.

Wrapping is done when the banana heart has begun to bend but not yet bloom, or before the first banana opens.

Use special blue plastic wrapping (Heigrow) or other plastic bags that contain insecticide.

Trees that have a lot of fruit or long stems should be supported with bamboo or other material. The purpose of this support is so that the plants do not collapse due to the dense fruits.

Pest Control

Most feared banana pests and diseases are: fusarium wilt, blood wilt and dwarf tree attacks.

Harvesting bananas

The actual age at which a banana can be harvested depends on market objectives or distribution. For export purposes, fruit needs to be harvested earlier.

In general, bananas are harvested at the maturity level of 3/4 for the export market, and for the local market, they can be harvested at near full maturity.

From the age of the fruit, bananas can be harvested after 3-4 months since the flowers bloom.

The characteristics of the fruit that is ready to be harvested are:

• The shape is round, and there are no sharp angular folds.
• The flower found at the tip of the fruit is dry and easy to break.
• Banana skin colour changes to the lighter green from dark green.
• The flag leaf on the plant has dried.

When checked in a laboratory, bananas that are ready to harvest have a starch content of 19.5-20% and a sugar content of 0.5-1%.

The thing to remember when harvesting is to make sure the fruit does not fall to the ground when it is harvested.

The most effective way to harvest bananas is to cut the banana trees about two-thirds of the ground, then cut the banana bunches with a sharp knife and drain the dripping sap.

Banana  Planting Video: