author(s)
K Sha and R Arulananth

abstract

The present investigation on “Effect of micronutrients on growth, yield and quality of Banana (Musa spp.) cv. Karpooravalli (ABB)” was carried out in the Orchard, Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu during 2023-2024. The study was conducted by three foliar sprays of micronutrients viz., Zinc sulphate, Borax and Ferrous sulphate at different concentrations along with recommended dose of fertilizer (110:35:330 NPK g plant^-1) and farmyard manure (25 t ha^-1) in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications comprising thirteen treatments.

The results of the investigation were found significant differences in the growth, yield and quality among the various treatments. The growth and physiological characters viz., pseudostem height, pseudostem girth, total number of leaves, leaf area, phyllochron, number of suckers at shooting stage, dry matter production and total chlorophyll content was found to be the highest in the treatment which received of T₁₃ (25 t ha^-1 FYM + RDF (110:35:330 NPK g plant^-1) + ZnSO₄ @ 0.75 % + Borax @ 0.75 % + FeSO₄ @ 0.75 % on 60, 90 and 120 DAP + Foliar spray). The same treatment also took lesser days taken for shooting and harvest when compared to all other treatments. Similarly, with regards to yield viz., number of hands bunch^-1, number of fingers hand^-1, number of fingers bunch^-1, finger length, finger girth, volume of finger, finger weight, pulp weight, peel weight, pulp: peel ratio and bunch weight was found to be highest in the treatment which received 25 t ha^-1 FYM + RDF (110:35:330 NPK g plant^-1) + ZnSO₄ @ 0.75 % + Borax @ 0.75 % + FeSO₄ @ 0.75 % on 60, 90 and 120 DAP + Foliar spray (T₁₃), while the least value for yield characters observed in the treatment T₁ (control).

From the experiment, it was concluded that among the application of different micronutrients, the treatment combination of 25 t ha^-1 FYM + RDF (110:35:330 NPK g plant^-1) + ZnSO₄ @ 0.75 % + Borax @ 0.75 % + FeSO₄ @ 0.75 % on 60, 90 and 120 DAP + Foliar spray (T₁₃) were identified as the best treatment to enhance the growth, yield and quality of banana cv. Karpooravalli (ABB).