Effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers addition on growth and yield of banana (Musa AAA cv. Malindi) on a saline and non-saline soil in Oman

Abstract

Water availability and soil salinity limit crop productivity in arid and semiarid regions such as Oman. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of amending a saline plant root zone soil with a non-saline sandy loam soil of organic and inorganic fertilizers, and of different placement methods on growth and yield of banana (Musa AAA cv. 'Malindi'). A total of 24 treatments comprising six fertilizer amendments, two soil types and two different application methods were tested. The amendments included four organic amendments versus un-composted dairy cow manure (FDM); composted dairy cow manure (CDM); CDM + 10% date palm straw (CDM + 10%DPS) by weight, and CDM + 30% date palm straw (CDM + 30% DPS) and two inorganic amendments (NPK and NPK plus foliar micronutrient spray, NPK+micro). The results revealed that neither soil amendments, fertilizer applications methods nor fertilizer composition significantly affected pseudostem height or girth, or leaf area. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in the number of leaves at flowering between Saline-Ring-NPK plants (8.2 leaves/plant) and Amended-Mixed-NPK and Amended-Ring-NPK+micro plants (14.0 and 13.8 leaves/plant, respectively). Amended-Ring-NPK+micro was significantly early flowering (267 days) compared to the other treatments. Amended-Ring-NPK+micro plants were harvested significantly earlier (in 339 days) than plants on saline soil. Amended-Ring-NPK+micro produced significantly higher average bunch fresh weight (9.5 kg/bunch/cycle) than all other treatments followed by Amended-Mixed-NPK+micro (5.9 kg/bunch/cycle). Key words: Dwarf cavendish, amendments, application methods, manure types, mineral fertilizers, yield components.