Introduction:

1. Introduction: • Banana is an important fruit crop. It is grown in many parts of India. It is suited to a variety of climates, soil types, etc. It is commercially propagated by, • Suckers. • Micropropagation (Tissue Culture). • Sexual propagation of bananas is not very popular as the seeds are not viable. The banana has a reduced underground stem, called the rhizome, which bears several buds. Each of these buds sprouts and forms its own pseudo stem and a new bulbous rhizome. These daughter plants are called suckers.

2. Types of Suckers: • Banana is propagated by rhizomes and suckers • Sword suckers: With well developed base and narrow sword-shaped leaf blades at the early stages. Commercially used in propagation. • Water suckers: They possess broader leaves. They do not produce healthy banana clumps.

3. Selection of Suckers: • The following major criteria should for selection of Sword Suckers are as follows, • The suckers should have broad corm. • The suckers must have narrow sword-like leaves. • The suckers from viral, fungal and bacterial infection free mother plants must be selected. • Some other criteria which must also be considered are • Suckers of 2-4 months age are selected. • Suckers should weigh about 500 to 1500 g. • They should have a stem diameter of 2 to 6 inches.

4. Selection of suckers: • The suckers should be selected from plants which are, • Healthy, • With desirable bunch qualities and disease resistance • High yielding ability. • The plant must produce bunches with at least 10 hands/bunch. • Sucker used should be freshly dug. • Suckers must be selected from healthy banana field. • Suckers should not be damaged during digging and transport. • The leaves are commonly cut off in nursery trade.

5. Sword Suckers and Water Suckers in Banana

6. Treatment of Suckers: • The selected suckers should be ‘pared’, roots and rotten portion on surface of the corm are trimmed. • The pared suckers are dipped in 0.2% Carbendazim (2g /liters of water) solution for about 15 –20 minutes for prevention of Fusarium wilt disease. • The treated suckers are dried in shade overnight before planting.

7. Planting of Suckers: • Can be planted in furrows or pits. • The method and depth of planting depends on soil strata. • Recommended pit size of 45cm x 45cm x 45cm. • Pits are left to scorch in sun before filling. • The pits are filled with top soil mixed with 10 kg of FYM, 250 gm of Neem cake and 20 gm of carbofuron. • The suckers are planted in the centre of the pit and the soil around the plant is gently pressed. • Deep planting should be avoided. • Irrigate the plants immediately after planting.