Effect of NPK fertilizer on growth and yield of banana in Northern Oman

Abstract

Banana is the leading fruit crop in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It represents the second most important fruit crop after date palm in the Sultanate of Oman, a subtropical arid country in the Middle East. Banana is grown as an intercrop throughout Oman but it is commercially cultivated on a large scale in the Dhofar (southern) region of and in Al-Batinah (coastal) region in the North. A field experiment was carried out in the traditional banana growing district, Al-Suwaiq, in Al-Batinah Region, during 2005-2006. The objective of the study was to determine the proper rate of NPK fertilizers that would maximize the potential yield of commercially-grown banana (Musa acuminata Colla, Cavendish cv. 'Williams'). Three levels of chemical fertilizers were applied, viz. N (300, 600 and 900 g/ mat/yr), P (50, 100 and150 g/mat/yr) and K (250, 500 and 750 g/mat/yr) in addition to non-fertilized control (no NPK applied) treatment. The results indicated that vegetative growth parameters (that is, leaf number, leaf area, stem height, and stem circumference) of non- fertilized control plants were neither significantly different nor produced better vegetative growth when compared to fertilized plants. The fertilizer treatment T3 consisting of N (600 g/mat /yr), P (100 g/mat /yr) and K (500 g/mat /yr) numerically influenced the yield and fruit characteristics like total bunch weight, middle-hand weight and number of fingers per middle-hand, of ‘Williams’ banana as compared to other treatments. Hence, this fertilizer dose of NPK was recommended for cultivation of ‘Williams’ banana in northern coastal region of Oman. Key words: Bunch weight, fingers, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, Musa spp. arid-region, Oman.