Abstract

RODRIGUEZ, Carolina; CAYON, Gerardo  and  MIRA, John Jairo. Influence of the harvested mother plant pseudostem on follower sucker growth and yield in banana (Musa AAA Simmonds). Agron. colomb. [online]. 2006, vol.24, n.2, pp.274-279. ISSN 0120-9965.

A study was carried out to determine the effect on the cutting height of the recently harvested pseudostem over the growth and yield of Grand Naine banana plant from its follower sucker. The experiment was established in the Urabá region (Antioquia, Colombia) using two commercial farms and during two seasons of the year, in which the same average precipitation rate was presented. Treatments comprised three cutting heights from ground surface (2.0, 1.2 and 0 m) at the moment of mother plant harvest. The suckers that presented cutting heights of the 2 and 1.2 m, increased plant height, pseudostem diameter and decreased time to flowering compared with the mother plant suckers, whose pseudostem was totally eliminated. Over the two farms, the suckers with a cutting height of 2 m increased significantly bunch weight compared to the mother plant suckers without a pseudostem. The length and caliber of the fingers were no affected by the treatments. Results show that there is an influence of the harvested mother plant pseudostem over the follower sucker. This favores early sucker growth caused by reserves and water supplies from the part of this structure, which is reflected by an increase in yield.

Keywords : plant physiology; growth; production; fruits; productivity cycles.

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