Agronomic Performance of Different Banana Cultivars in the Capixaba North Region

Abstract

There are many banana cultivars developed by genetic breeding programs in Brazil, however, when considering the related aspects, consumer market preference and the effects of the genotype-by-environment interaction, the options may be restricted to a few regions of the country. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the vegetative and productive development in three cycles of 12 banana genotypes under an irrigation system in the edaphoclimatic conditions of the northwestern region of the state of Espírito Santo, in a randomized block design with four replicates. During three cycles, the following characteristics were evaluated: plant height, number of shoots, number of total and functional leaves, pseudostalk diameter at 5 and 30 cm from the ground, bunch weight, number of fruits per bunch, number of bunch and size and fruit diameter. The results showed that the genotypes with the greatest productive potential were the 'Grand Nine' of the Cavendish group, followed by Thap Maeo Cavendish group. For the ‘Prata’ group, the best genotypes were the ‘Gali’, ‘Pacovan’ and ‘Fhia 18’. The ‘Princesa’ was the most productive in the ‘Maçã’ group, having a cultivation potential in the northern region of Espírito Santo.