Abstract
Five Lacknau plantain clones were tested in the field against yellow sigatoka (Mycosphaerella musicola), the corm weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus) and nematodes (Radopholus similis), and for yield and fruit processing quality. These plantains retained 10 or more functional leaves even without a foliar spraying program at bunch-shooting. At harvest, however, the number of useful leaves was drastically reduced. This condition was not totally related to sigatoka damage but to a rather faster rate of senescence occurring in unsprayed as well as sprayed leaves. These clones, without soil granular pesticides, recorded 4.5 cavities per rhizome and yielded 51.6 t/ha of fruits, 11 to 23 t/ha more than Maricongo in the plant crop. The application of carbamate based insecticide-nematicide compounds to corm weevil-resistant plantains reduced insect damage but did not increase yields. All Lacknau clones were susceptible to the burrowing nematode. Fried flattened slices and chips prepared from Lacknau mature green fruits were rated as acceptable. However, 59% of the tasters preferred fried slices from Lacknau over those of Maricongo, and 90% chose the Maricongo chips.