Effect of Different Levels of Calcium & Magnesium on Production and Quality of Banana (Musa paradisiaca L.) cv. Grand Naine

Abstract

The present experiment was conducted out during the 2022-2023 at the Horticulture Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Science Prayagraj. The banana tissue culture cv. Grand Naine G-9 (Cavendish Subgroup, AAA) was brought from government tissues culture, unit Lucknow. Tissue culture plants were left in shade nets condition for 2 weeks due to transportation and environmental stress. Light and frequent irrigation with watering can was done accordingly with respect to moisture levels in the soil. The field experiment was set up in RBD with 9 treatments and three replications. The different levels of Magnesium viz., (75g and 150g /plant) and Calcium viz., (150g and 300 g/plant).Based on the findings of the experiment, it is concluded that RDN + Calcium (150g /plant) showed the highest plant height (3.29 m), plant girth (72.14 cm), number of leaves/plant (27.11), number of sucker at harvest (9.13), leaf area  (10.19 m2), length of inflorescence (122.62 cm), days taken to flowering (281.77), days to taken fruit harvest (83.12), bunch weight (27.28 kg), no. of hands/bunch (10.80), No. of finger per hand (17.33),total number finger of bunch (187.31), finger weight (136.33 g), finger length  (22.87 cm), finger girth (15.20 cm), fruit yield per plant (25.52 kg), TSS (23.48 °Brix), Vitamin C (13.48 mg/100g), carbohydrates (25.44 g/100g), calcium  (10.38 mg/100g) and magnesium (40.38 mg/100g).