How to do a Banana Commercial Farming

Importance of Banana in India:
Banana is one of the major and economically important fruit crops of India. Banana occupies 20% of the area among the total area under crop in India. Most of Banana is grown by planting suckers. The technology development in agriculture is very fast, it results in developing a Tissue Culture Technique. Banana is the oldest and common fruit known to the mankind. It is one of the important fruits, and constitutes second largest fruit industry in India.

Agro-Climatic Conditions for Banana Plantation:
Banana, basically a tropical crop, grows well in a temperature range of 15°C – 35°C with a relative humidity of 75-85%. It prefers tropical humid lowlands and is grown from the sea level to an elevation of 2000m above msl. In India, this crop is being cultivated in climate ranging from humid tropical to dry mild subtropics through a selection of appropriate varieties. Chilling injury occurs at a temperature below 12°C. The high velocity of wind which exceeds 80 km /hr damages the crop. Four months of monsoon with an average 650-750 mm rainfall is most important for vigorous vegetative growth of banana. At higher altitudes, banana cultivation is restricted to a few varieties like ‘hill banana”.

Deep, rich loamy soil with a pH between 6.5 – 7.5 is most preferred for banana farming. Soil for banana should have good drainage, adequate fertility, and moisture. Saline solid, calcareous soils are not suitable for banana cultivation. A soil which is neither too acidic nor too alkaline, rich in organic material with high nitrogen content, adequate phosphorus level and plenty of potash is good for a banana.

Suitable Soil Type for Banana Plantation:
In Banana Farming, Soil for banana should have good drainage, adequate fertility, and moisture. Deep, rich loamy soil with pH between 6-7.5 are most preferred for banana cultivation. Ill drained, poorly aerated and nutritionally deficient soils are not suitable for the banana. Saline solid, calcareous soil is not suitable for Banana cultivation. Avoided soil of low lying areas, very sandy and heavy black cotton with ill drainage. A soil that is not too acidic and not too alkaline, rich in organic material with high nitrogen content, adequate phosphorus level and plenty of potash are good for the banana.

Banana Varieties:
In India, banana is grown under diverse conditions and production systems. In your banana farming, selection of varieties, therefore, is based on a large number of varieties catering to various kinds of needs and situations. However, around 20 cultivars namely, Dwarf Cavendish, Robusta, Monthan, Poovan, Nendran, Red banana, Nyali, Safed Velchi, Basarai, Ardhapuri, Rasthali, Karpurvalli, Karthali, and Grandnaine etc.

Grandnaine is gaining popularity and may soon be the most preferred variety due to its tolerance to biotic stresses and good quality bunches. Bunches have well-spaced hands with a straight orientation of figures, bigger in size. Fruit develops attractive uniform yellow color with better shelf life and quality than other cultivars.

Land Preparation for Banana Planting:
Prior to planting banana, grow the green manuring crop like daincha, cowpea, etc. and bury it in the soil. The land can be plowed 2-4 times and leveled. Use rotavator or harrow to break the clod and bring the soil to a fine tilth. During soil preparation, a basal dose of farmyard manure is added and thoroughly mixed into the soil.

A pit size of 45cm x 45cm x 45cm is normally required. The pits are to be refilled with topsoil mixed with 10 kg of farmyard manure, 250 gm of neem cake and 20 gm of conbofuron. Prepared pits are left to solar radiation helps in killing the harmful insects, is effective against soil-borne diseases and aids aeration. In saline-alkali soil where pH is above 8 Pit mixture is to be modified to incorporate organic matter.

Addition of organic matter helps in reducing salinity while the addition of purlite improves, porosity and aeration. An alternative to planting in pits is planting in furrows. Depending on soil strata one can choose an appropriate method as well as spacing and depth at which plant is required to be planted.

Planting Material of Banana Crop:
About 70% of the farmers are using suckers as planting material while the rest 30% of the farmers are using tissue culture seedlings. Sword suckers with well-developed rhizome, conical or spherical in shape having actively growing conical bud and weighing approximately 450-700 gm are commonly used as propagating material.

In Banana Farming, suckers generally may be infected with some pathogens and nematodes. Similarly, due to the variation in age and size of the sucker, the crop is not uniform, harvesting is prolonged and management becomes difficult. Therefore, in-vitro clonal propagation, Tissue culture plants are recommended for planting. They are healthy, disease free, uniform in growth and early yielding.

The Best Planting Season of Banana:
Planting of tissue culture Banana can be done throughout the year except when the temperature is too low or too high. The facility of a drip irrigation system is important. There are two important seasons in Maharashtra, India;
Mrig Baug (Kharif) Month of planting June – July. Kande Baug (Rabi) Month of planting October – November.

Banana Planting Methods:
Pit planting is commonly followed in the garden system of cultivation. A pit size of 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5m is normally required. Small pits are dug in case of ridges and furrows. The pits are to be refilled with topsoil mixed with 10 kg of FYM (well decomposed), 250 gm of neem cake and 20 gm of carbofuran. Prepared pits are left open for 15-20 days for solar radiation to kill all the insects, soil-borne diseases and for aeration before refilling. In saline-alkali soil where the pH is above 8, pit mixture is to be modified incorporating organic matter and gypsum.

The suckers are planted in the center of the pit and soil around is compacted. Plants are planted in the pits keeping pseudostem 2cm below the ground level. The soil around the plant is gently pressed. Deep planting should be avoided. The field is irrigated immediately after planting.

Irrigation Management of Banana Orchard:
Banana, a water-loving plant, requires a large quantity of water for maximum productivity. But Banana roots are the poor withdrawal of water. Therefore under Indian condition banana production should be supported by an efficient irrigation system like drip irrigation. Water requirement of banana has been worked out to be 2000mm per Annum. Application of drip irrigation and mulching technology has reported improved water use efficiency. There is saving of 56% of water and increasing yield by 23-32% under the drip.

Irrigate the plants immediately after planting. Apply sufficient water and maintain field capacity. Excess irrigation will lead to root zone congestion due to the removal of air from soil pores, thereby affecting plant establishment and growth. And hence drip method is a must for proper water management in Banana.

Application of Manure and Fertilizers for Banana Plants:
Banana requires a high amount of nutrients, which are often supplied only in part by the soil. The nutrient requirement has been worked out on all India basis is to be 20 kg FYM, 200gm N; 60-70gm P; 300gm K/plant. Banana requires heavy nutrition. The banana crop requires 7-8 Kg N, 0.7- 1.5 Kg P and 17-20 Kg K per metric tonne yield. Banana responds well to the application of nutrients. Traditionally farmers use more of urea and less of phosphorous and potash.

In order to avoid loss of nutrients from conventional fertilizers, loss of N through leaching, volatilization, evaporation, and loss of P and K by fixation in the soil, application of water-soluble or liquid fertilizers through drip irrigation is encouraged. A 25-30% increase in yield is observed using fertigation. Moreover, it saves labor and time and the distribution of nutrients is uniform.

Intercultural operations in Banana Crop:
The Root system of banana is superficial and easily damaged by cultivation, use of intercrop which is not desirable. However short durational crops like mung, cowpea, dhaincha are to be considered as green manuring crops. Crops from the cucurbitaceous family should be avoided as these carry viruses.

Weeding of Banana Plants:
Spraying of Glyphosate before planting at the rate of 2 lit/ha is carried out to keep the plantation weed free. One or two manual weedings are necessary.

Banana Harvesting Procedure:
Banana should be harvested at the physiological maturity stage for better postharvest quality. The fruit is climacteric and can reach the consumption stage after ripening operation.

• Maturity indices: These are established on the basis of fruit shape, angularity, grade or diameter of the median figure of the second hand, starch content and number of days that have elapsed after flowering. Market preferences can also affect the decision for harvesting a slight or fully mature fruit.
• Removal of the bunch: The bunch should be harvested when figures of second hand from the top are 3/4 rounded with the help of sharp sickle 30cm above the first hand. Harvest may be delayed up to 100-110 days after the opening of the first hand. The harvested bunch should generally be collected in a well-padded tray or basket and brought to the collection site. Bunches should be kept out of light after harvest since this hastens to ripen and soften. For local consumption, hands are often left on stalks and sold to retailers. For export, hands are cut into units of 4-16 fingers, graded for both length and girth, and carefully placed in poly-lined boxes to hold different weight depending on export requirements.

Post-harvest management of Banana farming:
At the collection site injured and over-mature fruits are discarded and for a local market, bunches should be delivered through lorries or wagons. However, for more sophisticated and export market where the quality is predominant, bunches should be dehanded, fruits are cleared in running water or dilute sodium hypochlorite solution to remove the latex and treated with thiabendazole; air dried and graded on the basis of size of fingers as already stated, packed in ventilated CFB boxes of 14.5 kg capacity or as per requirement with polythene lining and pre-cooled at 13-15°C temperature and at 80-90% RH.
Such material should then be sent under cool chain at 13°C for marketing

The yield of Banana:
The planted crop gets ready for harvest within 11-12 months of planting. First ratoon crop would be ready by 8-10 month from the harvesting of the main crop and second ratoon by 8-9 months after the second crop.

Thus over a period to 28-30 months, it is possible to harvest three crops i.e. one main crop and two ratoon crops. Under drip irrigation combined with Fertigation yield of Banana as high as 100 T/ha can be obtained with the help of tissue culture technique, even similar yield in the ratoon crops can be achieved if the crop is managed well.

Bottom Line:
Banana Farming is Fun and Profitable provided if climatic conditions support.

Article Source:
https://www.agrifarming.in/banana-farming