Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 8.1.
Effect of shading on the bunch weight produced per month (kg/month
and months to harvest). Low light reduces the leaf area produced, and a positive
relationship exists between leaf area of the third mature leaf and
fi
nal bunch weight:
y
= 4.83
x
- 12.83. r
2
= 0.75, signi
fi
cant at
P
< 0.05 (after Murray, 1961).
consists of overlapping leaf sheaths. The apical bud of this corm produces the
leaves, and at certain stage it dif erentiates into the fl ower bud, which, in the
same way as the leaves, grows up through the centre of the pseudostem until
it emerges at fl owering (Fig. 8.2).
The corm has lateral buds that produce shoots (suckers) near the parent
(Fig. 8.2). These suckers grow and, when old enough, fl ower and bear fruit
and are the basis for the successive ratoon crops that these plants normally
produce for many years. Suckers can be of two types: the 'sword' sucker is one
that has very narrow leaves when young and its pseudostem has a conic form;
the other type is the 'water' sucker, which has a cylindrical pseudostem and
wide, almost rounded leaves. 'Water' suckers are eliminated in the plantation
and normally are not used for propagation, while 'sword' suckers are selected
to become the ratoon crop and preferred as propagation material, although
trials with plantain (Belalcazar, 1991) have shown that 'water' suckers can
result in an equally productive crop if given proper care when young.
Adventitious roots that arise from the corm form a dense mat and spread
extensively 4-5 m from the parent and down to 75 cm or more. Plantains of
the AAB genome have a shallower root system than export bananas.
The large leaf lamina are 1.5-4 m long by 0.7-1 m wide, with pronounced
midribs and parallel veins (Fig. 8.2). Stomata occur on both surfaces, with
