Effect of Planting Material on Yield and Quality of Two Plantain Cultivars (Musa acuminata X M. balbisiana, A A B)

Abstract

The effect of two types of suckers (sword and water) and of three sucker sizes on yields and plant, bunch and individual fruit characteristics of Maricongo and Common Dwarf plantains (Musa acuminata x M. balbisiana, AAB) was determined. With the tall Maricongo, yield in terms of weight and number of marketable fruits per ha was significantly affected only by the type of suckers planted, whereas in the Dwarf cultivar, both size and type of suckers affected total production. In the tall plantain, sword suckers regardless of size outyielded water suckers by 5.7 t/ha or 14,734 fruits per ha. In the Dwarf cultivar, the medium and small sword suckers outyielded their counterparts in the water type by 5.5 and 10.2 t/ha (15,870 and 26,360 fruits per ha respectively. Planting material of different types and size had no effect on fruit quality; using the largest sword or water suckers did not affect any of the plant or bunch characteristics.