Agronomic Performance of Banana (Musa AAA) Cultivars of the Cavendish and Gros Michel Subgroups

Abstract

The productive performance, postharvest characteristics, populations of nematodes and root content in low and intermediate cultivars of bananas (Musa AAA) of the Cavendish and Gros Michel subgroups were evaluated in sedimentary origin soil of the Caribbean of Costa Rica. At flowering, except for the similar (11.37 vs 11.0; P≥ 0.4540) number of leaves of the mother plant between subgroups, plants and follower suckers of the Gros Michel subgroup showed higher (P< 0.0001) plant height 3.6 and 1.85 vs 2.97 and 1.2 m) and pseudostem diameter (30.1 and 19.2 vs 25.2 and 13.8 cm) and more leaves (6.05 vs 1.97; P< 0.0001) in the follower sucker. Rosseting mainly affected (P< 0.0001) Gros Michel, where 30 vs 4.06 % of the plants presented some degree of symptoms. A lower (P≤ 0.0222) ratooning was observed in Gros Michel, where it varied between 1.43 and 1.58 vs 1.59 and 1.78 bunches per production unit in Cavendish. At harvest, the Gros Michel plants presented fewer leaves (3.0 vs 3.3; P= 0.0005), heavier bunches (29.0 vs 22.5 kg; P< 0.0001), with more hands (9.35 vs 7.57; P< 0.0001) and more fruits (between 17.1 and 20.7 vs 15.43 and 19.4; P≤ 0.0002) by hand, fruits more (P≤ 0.0008) thicker (between 39.25 and 42.55 vs 37.43 and 41.9 mm) in all the hands evaluated, fruits less ((P≤ 0.0027) long in the upper hands (second 23.0 vs 23.7; fourth 21.8 vs 23.2 cm) and longer (P< 0.0001) in the lower hands (sixth 20.9 vs 20.37; eighth 19.9 vs 19.17 cm). A higher (P≤ 0.0002) content (64.8 vs 34.9 g per sucker) and percentage (83.6 vs 76.0 %) of functional roots was determined in the Gros Michel. There were no differences (P≥ 0.0632) in the number of R. similis (10018 vs 15126 per 100 g of roots by follower sucker) or in the absence/presence of Helicotylenchus spp. (43 vs 33 %) and Meloidogyne spp. (49.5 vs. 33.3 %). In Pratylenchus spp. its presence was higher (P= 0.0321) in Gros Michel (15.4 vs 4.0 %). In the postharvest variables, greater (P≤ 0.0006) fruit firmness was found in Cavendish (0.94 and 1.24 vs 0.85 and 1.09 newtons in Gros Michel) in both harvests. Although, the fruit peel was thicker in Gros Michel 3.65 vs 3.35 mm in Cavendish, the difference was not large enough to be significant (P= 0.6118). No plants with Fusarium oxysporum race 1 symptom were registered in the susceptible cultivars, nor was their presence detected in the soil samples analyzed.