Nitrogen Management in Banana (Musa Paradisica L.) Cv. Basrai Through Drip Under Paired Row System
A field experiment was conducted under south Gujarat conditions at Fruit Research Station, Navsari Agricultural University, Gandevi, Dist. Navsari. The treatments comprised of three levels of nitrogen viz., 100, 150 and 200 g per plant and three methods of application viz ., 100, 75 and 50 per cent through drip and rest as soil application. In control, recommended dose of 200-90-200 g NPK per plant was applied fully in soil. The phosphorus (90 g plant-1) along with 5 kg FYM per plant were applied at the time of planting, while potassium (200 g plant-1) was applied in three equal splits as soil application at monthly interval from third month onward. The experiment thus included ten treatments, which were replicated four times. The trial was laid out in randomized block design. The banana was planted at 1.0m x 1.2 m x 2.0 m spacing with pair row method (6250 plants ha-1). In the drip system, daily irrigation at 0.75 pan evaporation rate was followed; while in control plot, surface irrigation was given at 12-15 days interval in winter season and at 8-10 days interval in summer. Results revealed that the banana plants fertilized with different doses of nitrogen through drip as well as soil application in three different methods were significantly affected on vegetative growth, quality and yield of banana under pair row method of planting. The maximum (103.44 cm) plant height and circumference (43.93 cm) of the pseudostem were registered in the treatment of 150 g N per plant applied through drip only. The number of leaves and leaf area were not influenced by various levels of nitrogen. Early flowering and early maturity were noticed in treatment of 150 g N per plant applied through drip only, while the plants treated with lower and higher levels of nitrogen showed late flowering and late maturity. Yield and yield attributing characters like bunch length (60.05 cm), number of hands per bunch (8.97), number of fingers per bunch (147.41) and bunch weight (19.60 kg plant-1)
