Yield and fruit quality of the Superplátano grown on an Ultisol with supplemental irrigation

Abstract

The French-type Superplátano (Musa, AAB) clone planted on a highly weathered soil under supplemental irrigation was subjected to various bunch (raceme) treatments.Two weeks after bunch emergence the immature racemes were pruned to either four, five or six uppermost hands. Subsequently some of the pruned racemes were sprayed with a growth regulator (Pro-Gibb) solution containing 50 ml/L of gibberellic acid, whereas others were not sprayed. Both sprayed and unsprayed bunches were immediately bagged and others were left unbagged.The false-horn type Maricongo plantain with unpruned, unsprayed and unbagged racemes was used as a control. Growth regulator spraying and bagging had no significant effect on bunch and fruit traits. Pruning, however, significantly affected bunch number of fruits and weight, bunch mean fruit weight, and individual fruit traits in the distal hand. A reduction in number of hands from six to four substantially increased bunch mean fruit weight, thickness, length and weight of individual fruits in the distal hand. The Superplátano with the bunch pruned to five hands averaged 66 marketable fruits and weighed 20.7 kg. Bunch mean fruit weight was 314 g, well over the 270 g weight criterion used for local marketable grade fruits. These bunches contained significantly more fruits and were heavier than the unpruned Maricongo racemes with 7.4 hands. Only bunches pruned to four hands, however, had a bunch mean fruit weight similar to that of the unpruned Maricongo. Fruits in the distal hand of the Superplátano bunch pruned to either four or five hands compared in thickness, outer length and weight to those corresponding to the same numerical hand of the unpruned Maricongo raceme.