Hello to everyone in this great community,The Agricultural Mindset. I hope we are doing great.
Today I will be exposing us to have more knowledge about the banana plant.
The banana plant is one of the plants whose fruit brings a good profit to any farmer cultivating it.
Banana is propagated through vegetative means using suckers. For a nice growth, bananas should be planted around that April to September time of the year as it requires rainfall of approximately 175 cm per annum. This means it is a water loving plant. The rain helps maintain the temperature as the suitable temperature needed for banana plants is 20 to 25 degrees Celsius.
The best soil for a farmer to plant bananas and get a bountiful yield is loamy soil rich with nutrients and also well drained,not waterlogged although the plant is water loving.
When planting banana, the hole which the suckers would be dipped into should be 60cm by 60cm and should be well spaced,4cm by 4cm.
It is not only our cassava,yam or other crops or plants that a farmer is supposed to take good care of. The banana plant will improve if weeded, mulched and if possibly applied some fertilizer, organic or inorganic.
Depending on the variety of the banana (Gross Michel, red banana , canary banana and others), the bunch can be ready for harvest in 12 to 18 months. When grown,it should be staked to avoid falling due to the bunch weight or wind action.
For proper growth and better yield, a farmer also needs to watch his banana plants for some pests such as rats, monkeys,stem borrowers(larvae of insects). These pests can cause several diseases which would reduce yield and bring loss to the farmer.
This pictures were all taken with my phone.
Thanks for visiting my post and I hope you have learned a lot.