Banana farming guide

Scientific Name: Musa paradisiaca

Conditions favoring banana farming - Bananas grow best in hot and humid climates, require a rainfall of at least 1000 mm per year to survive and have a high light requirement.

-Banana plants grow optimally at 27°C and require a deep soil, rich in organic matter which is well draining and well aerated. The plants will grow optimally in soil with a pH between 5.5 and 7.0.

-Young banana plants are very susceptible to wind damage and it is recommended that they are planted in sufficient shelter or in a block so that the plants will protect one another.

Raw bananas

Banana suckers - Banana plants are vegetatively propagated, most often from suckers (shoots that grow from a bud at the base of the plant) or from corms (underground bulbs known as rhizomes).

-The use of whole corms is very laborious so it is more common to grow from small pieces of corm. -There are three different types of banana suckers which are produced by the mother plant; maidenheads, sword suckers and water suckers.

-Maidenheads have a large pseudostem which does not produce fruit. Sword suckers have anarrow base, short pseudostem and narrow, blade-like leaves.

-They produce healthy, fruitful pseudostems when they mature Water suckers have short pseudostems and broad leaves.

-Water suckers are not strongly attached to the rhizome and generally produce weaker plants and less fruit. Maidenheads and large sword suckers are preferred over water suckers.

Banana flower

Planting bananas - The desired pieces of the plant are usually planted 30–60 cm (11.8–23.6 in) deep in the soil and should generally be planted at the end of the dry season or the beginning of the wet season.

-Plant spacing is dependent on the cultivar being planted.

-Frequent weeding is required until plants are tall enough to shade out competing plants and should be started about 6 weeks after planting.

-The banana plants are fast growing and require the frequent addition of nutrients as well as additional irrigation in the dry season.

-Banana is often grown alongside other crop plants with similar requirements, indeed, the young banana plants make excellent 'nurses' for other crops such as papaya or cocoa which can be grown very close to the young banana.

Pests and diseases in bananas
1.Rhizome rot - Pseudostem breaks from rhizome; rhizome will not germinate; internal tissue yellow/brown and watery.

2.Moko disease - Older leaves chlorotic, wilted and collapsing; spreads to entire canopy; collapse of pseudostem.

3.Black sigatoka (Black leaf streak) - Red/brown flecks or spots on underside or topside of leaves; spots with dark or yellow border and grey centre; death of leaf surface; bunch not developing.

Black sigatoka disease

4.Anthracnose - Brown spots on fruit peel; large brown to black areas; black lesions on green fruit.

5.Panama disease (Fusarium wilt) - Yellowing of older leaves; splitting of leaf sheaths; leaves wilting and buckling; death of entire canopy.

6.Yellow sigatoka - Pale green flecks on leaves which enlarge to chlorotic streaks; streaks enlarge and turn brown with chlorotic halo; mature lesions are gray with a dark brown border; lesions coalesce and kill large areasof leaves.

7.Bunchy top - Dark green streaks in leaves; chlorotic and upturned leaf margins; leaves brittle and erect; plant has a ‘bunchy top; no bunches produced.

8.Banana mosaic - Chlorotic mottling or stripes on foliage; distorted fruit which may have chlorotic streaks or mottling; distorted leaves; leaf necrosis.

9.Banana aphid - Deformed plants with curled, shriveled leaves; if infestation is severe, galls may form on leaves; colonies of aphids usually present in crown of plant at base of pseudostem or between the outer leaf sheaths; aphid is soft-bodied and red-brown to almost black in color.

10.Coconut scale - Small, flat, whitish scales, usually on undersides of leaves but may also attach to petioles, peduncles and fruit; plant tissue discolored and yellowing.

11.Banana weevil - Reduced plant growth; reduced fruit production; tunnels may be visible in corm as rounded holes up to 8 mm in diameter; plants wilting and toppling over; destruction of root system; plant death; adult insect is a hard-shelled beetle which is almost black in color; adult is commonly found between leaf sheaths; larvae are creamy-white, legless grubs with a red-brown head.

12.Cigar end rot - Tips of fingers initially begin to darken and wrinkle; tips of fingers develop a dark rot; if Verticillium fungi are present then the rot is typically dry and the tips become mummified, if -Trachysphaera is present, the rotted are become covered with white spores which gives the fingers the ashen appearance characteristic of cigar end rot.

Ripe bananas

Health benefits of bananas

1.Lowering the risks of asthma and cancer.

2.Lowering blood pressure

3.Improving heart health

4.Treating diarrhea

5.Preserving memory and boosting mood

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