ARS | Publication request: Performance of five cooking banana accessions at the National Germplasm Repository under limestone soil conditions.

Submitted to: Proceedings of Florida State Horticultural Society
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: June 15, 2007
Publication Date: November 1, 2007
Citation: Ayala Silva, T., Schnell Ii, R.J., Meerow, A.W., Gordon, G.G. 2007. Performance of five cooking banana accessions at the National Germplasm Repository under limestone soil conditions. Proceedings of Florida State Horticultural Society. 120:1-3

Interpretive Summary: Five cultivars of bananas from the National Germplasm Repository in Miami were used for evaluation under local soil and environmental conditions. The number of suckers per mat, height at fruiting, and cycling time were determined during the first fruiting cycle, and bunch number and bunch weight were documented. A productivity index (PIX), calculated as 100 × mean bunch weight in kg/ cycling time in days, was used to verify the productivity of the clones over time. The propensity of the clones to yellow sigatoka, caused by Mycosphaerella musicola was also evaluated. Initial results confirmed that all the clones have resistant/tolerance to yellow Sigatoka and should be recommended for production in areas that have problems with this disease. The clones ‘Gipungusi’, ‘Bom’, ‘Pelipita’, and ‘Cacambou’, produced reasonable to high yields of good to excellent fruit, therefore are recommended for use in all areas with a tropical/subtropical weather with dry areas and calcareous soils. Key words: Musa, cacambou, bunch number, Gipungusi, variety

Technical Abstract: Five varieties of cooking bananas from the National Germplasm Repository in Miami were used for evaluation under local edaphic and environmental conditions. The number of pseudostems per mat, height at fruiting, and cycling time were determined during the first fruiting cycle, and bunch number and bunch weight were recorded. A productivity index (PIX), calculated as 100 × mean bunch weight in kg/ cycling time in days, was used to determine the productivity of the clones over time. In addition, the susceptibility of the clones to yellow sigatoka, caused by Mycosphaerella musicola was evaluated. Preliminary results demonstrated that all the clones have resistant/tolerance to yellow Sigatoka and should be recommended for production in areas that have problems with this disease. The clones ‘Gipungusi’, ‘Pelipita’, and ‘Cacambou’, produced moderate to high yields of good to excellent fruit, and are recommended for use in all areas with a tropical/subtropical climate with dry areas and limestone soils. Key words: Musa, cacambou, bunch number, Gipungusi, variety