1. IRRIGATION SCHEDULING AND TECHNIQUES IN BANANA NextEnd

2. IRRIGATION Bananas require constant water supply throughout their growth. For the first 6 months use drip and basin irrigation. Put enough water in each basin (25 litres of water every 2-3 days). The amount of water can be decreased or increased depending on the weather conditions and the soil type. PreviousEndNext

3. Irrigation should be given immediately after planting and life irrigation after 3-4 days, subsequently irrigations are to be given once in a week for irrigated plantations of garden lands and once in 10-15 days for wet lands. The field should be sufficiently irrigated after every manuring. After 6 months some other method of irrigation like sprinkler irrigation so that the whole ground is watered, can be adopted. Sprinklers would be more appropriate beyond 6 months. Irrigating for 6 to 8 hours every three to four days would be sufficient depending on weather conditions. PreviousEndNext

4. If the use of the hose is to be continued, then watering should no longer be restricted to the basin because the roots would have spread beyond the basin. Flooding can be used on flat land. However, flooding on slopes is discouraged because it can cause soil erosion. Drip irrigation can be advantageous to reduce water loss in conveyance and improving efficiency. Drip systems are especially useful in salt affected soil. Nearly 40 % savings in water is noticed when drip systems are used. PreviousEndNext

5. Field trials conducted at TNAU have indicated that about 16-20 litres of water would be required everyday for each plant, depending upon the stages of the growth. Research findings showed that banana responds well upto 25 litres of drip irrigation per day resulting in maximum yield. Irrigate newly-planted tissue culture banana plants every day for 2 weeks (15 minutes per irrigation) to protect leaves from heat stress. In the absence of rain, irrigation water should be applied on a “little and often” basis to banana plants. PreviousEndNext

6. For heavy loamy soil apply 20 mm of water every 3 days in summer and every 8 days in winter. Find out the delivery rate of sprinkler nozzles. Example: Nozzle delivery = 3 mm per hour For every irrigation, run the system for 20 hours divided by 3 hours = 6 hours and 40 minutes (20/3 = 6 hours, 40 min) For light sandy soil apply 12 mm water every 2 days in summer and every 5 days in winter. Find out the delivery rate of sprinkler nozzles. Example: Nozzle delivery = 3 mm per hour For every irrigation, run the system for 12 hours divided by 3 hours = 4 hours (12/3 = 4 hours). PreviousEndNext

7. FERTIGATION It is possible to regulate and supply the required nutrients through irrigation water if drip systems have been laid out. This will help in obtaining very high yields compared to conventional method of fertilizer application in the soil. The dosages required by the plant can also be reduced by 25- 50 % when the fertigation is practiced along with high density planting. Experiments conducted at this department showed that weekly scheduling of fertigation is sufficient and different nutrients are to be given at different stages as indicated. PreviousEndNext

8. Fertigation scheduling of weekly basis Weeks after planting NPK / plant in grams* NPK g/weekTotal (g)g/weekTotal (g)g/weekTotal (g) 9 th to 18 th (10 weeks) 2.4824.753.535.004.9549.50 19 th to 30 th (12 weeks) 3.4441.25-- 8.2599.00 31 st to 42 nd (12 weeks) 1.3816.50-- 6.6079.20 43 rd to 46 th (4 weeks) -- 4.9519.80 Total 82.50*35.00*247.50* * 75 % of recommended dose for soil application PreviousEndNext