Effects of Banana Clones and Spacing on Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality of some Banana Cultivars

Abstract

Afield experiment was carried out at the National Institute for the Promotion of Horticultural Exports (NIPHE) research farm, University of Gezira, Wad Medani, Sudan, to study the effects of banana clones and spacing on vegetative growth, crop earliness, yield and yield components, fruit green life and fruit quality of some introduced banana clones under Gezira state conditions. Treatments consisted of six new banana clones, namely, Williams hybrid clone 1 (WH1), Williams hybrid clone 2 (WH2), Grand Nain clone 1 (GN1), Grand Nain clone 2 (GN2), Zelig and Bio, which were introduced from South Africa by NIPHE. The introduced clones were compared with the local cultivar Dwarf Cavendish (DC). All clones were grown at spacings of 2x2 m and 3x3 m. These treatments were arranged in a split plot design with three replications and four plants each. Results showed that vegetative growth parameters, crop earliness, yield and yield components, fruit green life and fruit quality were significantly affected by spacing and banana clones. WH1 and Zelig obtained the best vegetative growth, whereas DC obtained the worst growth. Zelig and Bio scored the highest yield and yield components, while DC scored the lowest yield in the three ratoons. WH1 took the largest number of days from shooting to harvesting, whereas Zelig recorded the highest exportable yield in the three ratoons.