1. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXTEND

2. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXTEND Banana is cultivated in four systems, viz., Garden land cultivation, homestead or backyard cultivation, mixed cultivation and multi-storey system. Of four, garden land cultivation contributes major production. Tillage is the mechanical manipulation of soil, a prime operation carried out in banana cultivation. Though primary and secondary tillage operations are made in banana cultivation, primary tillages are having greater importance than the secondary tillage operations. Abstract:

3. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXTEND Main primary tillage implements used in banana cultivation are country plough, cultivator, mould board plough, disc plough and chisel plough. Among these, country plough and cultivator are mainly used, though disc and mould board ploughing provides deep ploughing and needed for banana growth. Secondary tillages are not much important and implements such as country plough, disc harrow, cultivator and puddler are used for completing secondary tillages.

4. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXT END To study the role of primary and secondary tillages in banana cultivation. To learn the different primary and secondary tillage implements used for banana field preparation. Learning objectives:

5. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUSNEXTEND Banana (Musa sp.) is widely grown with great socio-economic significance in the world. It is also a dessert fruit for millions, apart from a staple food owing to its rich and easily digestible carbohydrates. Banana can be grown in all kinds of soils having good drainage. Tillage or ploughing the soil is the first and foremost operation carried out in banana cultivation. Tillage operations are carried out in two stages. viz., opening up of soils (generally called as primary tillage) and pulverization of soils (generally called as secondary tillage). Introduction:

6. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXTEND Based on the availability of implement, land area required to plough and technology available, different types of implements are used all over the world. Country plough was primitive plough used for carrying out tillage operations in banana, but, now-a-days, many modern implements such as mould board plough, disc plough, chisel plough, cultivator, harrow etc. are replacing or used in addition.

7. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXTEND Depending upon resource availability, cultivars, traditions and marketing, different production systems are adopted. 1. Garden land cultivation Pit planting is commonly followed in garden land system of cultivation. Pits of 60cm × 60cm × 60cm sizes are dug-out and suckers are planted in the centre of the pit. In Gujarat and Maharashtra (India), furrow planting is practiced. After land preparation, 30–40cm deep furrows are made, either manually or with a ridge plough. Suckers are placed at required spacing Systems of planting

8. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXT END Trench planting is practiced in wet land cultivation of Tamil Nadu (India). Land is prepared like in paddy cultivation (puddling). Planting is done by simple pressing the suckers into the wet field. After that, trenches are formed, deepened and widened. 2. Homestead or backyard cultivation In traditional growing regions, homestead cultivation of banana is common. Homestead farming is characterized by improper spacing, inadequate use of fertilizer and pesticides, high productivity and longer crop duration.

9. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXT END Banana is planted predominantly as a commercial shade crop for coffee contributing to income in initial years. Perennial system of cultivation is another important feature. Banana is intercropped with palm crops (coconut and arecanut) and also inter planted with ginger, turmeric, elephant-foot yam, cotton, gourd and other vegetables to exploit maximum income/unit area. 3. Mixed cultivation

10. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUSNEXTEND 4. Multi-storey system High-density planting with coconut and arecanut forming the upper-storey followed by banana, next with tapioca and lower- most storey with Colocasia, turmeric, ginger and garlic. High input management is its important feature. Primary and secondary tillages in banana Though there are four different systems of banana cultivation, area and production is more in garden land cultivation. In addition, mixed cultivation and multi-storey system are also playing important role in banana cultivation

11. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXTEND In any of cultivation method, primary and secondary tillage operations are to be practiced to ease planting of banana. The tillage operations followed in various parts of the world are given below. Primary tillage implements The following are the primary tillage implements used in banana cultivation. Country plough, Cultivator, Mould board plough, Disc plough, Sub-soiler and chisel plough

12. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXT END In traditional areas, country ploughs are used for opening up of soil. Two or three repeated ploughings are made to plough the soil to a depth of 15-25 cm with country plough. Cultivators attached to tractors are replacing the country ploughs in recent past. There are 5 or 9 or 11 tyne cultivators, put in use for ploughing the lands. Five tyne cultivators are used in opposite direction to complete primary tillage operations.

13. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXTEND Mould board and disc ploughs are used as primary tillage implements for preparing the banana fields. The depth of ploughing due to these ploughs is deeper than the country ploughs or cultivators which are required for banana cultivation, because, at least 40-50 cm deep ploughing is required for banana. Hence, ploughing either using mould board plough or disc plough is necessary. Disc ploughing

14. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXT END Sub soiler and chisel ploughs are not frequently used, however, using these ploughs once in two to three years avoids the hard pan formation below the plough layer which improve the root penetration. Secondary tillage implements: Main secondary tillage implements used in banana fields are,  Country plough  Disc harrow  Cultivator  Puddler

15. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXT END Banana is mainly planted in pits, the secondary tillage operations are not playing greater role. Country plough and cultivators (mainly 9, and 11 tynes) are preferred for operating the ploughed soils. Disc harrows are put in use in banana fields as secondary tillage implements for getting finer soils. The most realized implement in wetland cultivation of banana are puddlers. The puddlers are of three types based on draught power, viz., animal drawn, power tiller drawn and tractor drawn. The fields are prepared using either of puddlers or after thorough puddling, the banana suckers are pushed in to the soil gently at required spacing.

16. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXTEND Banana is cultivated in four systems of cultivation, viz., garden land cultivation, homestead or backyard cultivation, mixed cultivation and multi-storey system. Of the four, garden land cultivation has greater role. Under garden land cultivation, pit planting is commonly followed. Furrow planting and trench planting is also practiced In homestead or backyard cultivation, the family requirement is given preference and importance. Summary: CONT…

17. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXTEND In mixed cultivation, banana is grown predominantly as a commercial shade crop for coffee contributing to income in initial years. High-density planting with coconut and arecanut forming the upper-storey followed by banana, next with tapioca and lower- most storey with Colocasia, turmeric, ginger and garlic in multi- storey system. Primary tillage implements used in banana fields are, country plough, cultivator, mould board plough, disc plough, sub-soiler and chisel plough. Among these, country plough and cultivators are mainly used in developing countries. CONT…

18. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXT END Mould board and disc ploughs, ploughs deeper than the country ploughs and hence, these are more important. Main secondary tillage implements used in banana cultivation are country plough, disc harrow, cultivator and puddler. Banana is mainly planted in pits, and hence, the importance of the secondary tillage operations is not realized. The most realized implement in wetland cultivation of banana are puddlers.

19. PREVIOUSNEXTEND Assessment 1.Pit planting is commonly followed in garden land system of banana cultivation (True/False). 2.Mixed cultivation of banana is practiced to satisfy the home needs (True/False). 3.Ploughing either using mould board plough or disc plough is necessary in banana cultivation since it needs deep ploughed soils (True/False). 4.Sub soiler and chisel ploughs are used to break hard pan formation in banana fields (True/False). 5.Secondary tillage operations are more important than primary tillages in banana (True/False).

20. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TILLAGE IN BANANA PREVIOUS NEXT END Singh, S.P. 2000. Commercial fruits. Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana. Kumar, N. 2000. Introduction to Horticulture. Rajalakshmi Publications, Nagarcoil, Tamil Nadu. Yellamanda Reddy, T. and G.H. Sankara Reddi. 2010. Principles of Agronomy. Kalyani Publisher, Ludhiana. References: