Optimization of Suckers and Application of Phytohormones for Better Growth, Yield and Quality of Banana (Musa paradisiaca L.) cv. Udhayam

Abstract

The primary goals of the experiment were to determine the optimal number of suckers, to determine the effects of PGR on growth, production, and quality, and to assess the economics of various treatments for bananas. Fast-growing plants like bananas need lots of food and water to maintain a year-round cycle and ensure harvests that are profitable. The experiment used a Randomized Block Design with three IAA replications and ten treatments at various levels of desuckering. IAA levels varied between 80 and 100 ppm, but the number of suckers per plant varied from 1 to 3. The findings showed that Treatment T4, which consisted of the Mother plant + 1 sucker + IAA (80 ppm) had the best effect on the height of mother plant (3.49 m), height of suckers (215.68 cm), number of leaves per plant (11.57), leaf area (32.39 m2), leaf area index (7.34), number of days taken from stalk opening to harvest (120.44 days), total chlorophyll content (SPAD-502 value, 60.05), number of hands per stalk (10.88), number of fingers per hand (14.14), finger length (15.09 cm), finger girth (4.31 cm), stalk weight (22.62 kg), yield (51.27 t/ha), firmness of finger at ripening stage (4.33 kg/cm2), moisture content of finger at ripening stage (78.84 %), total soluble solid (TSS) (16.26° Brix). From the economic point of view also treatment T4 performed the best with B:C (3.89).