Nutrient Management for New Banana Varieties in Guangdong

IPNI-2010-CHN-GD14

12 Mar 2014

2013 Annual Interpretive Summary


This project was initiated in 2012 to test the effects of different N and K rates and their combinations on growth, photosynthesis, budding time, yield and quality of a banana cultivar - Pisang awak (Musa ABB Pisang Awak) - in Guangdong. Eight treatment combinations with four N rates (0, 731, 975 and 1,219 kg/ha), four K rates (0, 1,097, 1,463 and 1,828 kg K2O/ha) and one P rate (375 kg P2O5/ha) were used and replicated three times. All treatments included (per ha) 15 kg of borax and 1.5 kg of ammonium molybdate. Fertilizer sources used for N, P and K were urea (46% N), diammonium phosphate or DAP (11% N and 44% P2O5) and potassium chloride or KCl (60% K2O). Fertilizers were split applied at seven times, viz., twice at seedling stage, twice from flower initiation to budding stage and three times from budding stage to maturity. The proportions of nutrients applied at the seedling stage before and after budding stage were 20:45:35 for N, 50:30:20 for P and 18:50:32 for K to meet nutrient demand at different crop growth stages. These nutrients were banded before budding stage and used in hoe-dug hills with irrigation after the budding stage. Borax and ammonium molybdate were applied after thoroughly mixing with urea.

Results showed that the growth of banana was significantly affected by different fertilizer treatments. The treatment with optimal rates of N and K had the highest plant height, stem girth, rate of photosynthesis and budding rates, and produced highest banana yield (52 t/ha) and profit (US$32,747/ha). These values were 4.4 t/ha (9.3%) and US$3,160 (7%) more than the omission N treatment and 7.28 t/ha (16%) and US$5,057 (18%) more than the yield and profit obtained with omission K treatment. Furthermore, this treatment also yielded higher contents of vitamin C, soluble sugar and edible portions in fruit. Preliminary results indicate that to produce 50 t/ha of banana fruit yield, the optimal fertilizer rates are 770-850 kg N, and 375 kg P2O5 and 1,000 to 1,120 kg K2O/ha with a N/K2O ratio of 1:1.30.