BANANA


Local/Malay Name : Pisang
Scientific Name : Musa sapientuml

THE TREE

The banana is a large herbaceous plant and is a non-seasonal bearer reaching to a heigh of 1.5 -3.0m. The banana fruit is a berry and it is protected by a cover known as peel. The fruit is usually green when unripe and yellow when ripe. Both the stem and the in florescence are edible.
In Malaysia the banana is grown in Perak, Pahang, Johore, Selangor, Kelantan dan Trengganu.

CULTIVARS

There are basically two main types of banana, the cooking and the desert varieties. Among the cultivars that can be eaten fresh are mas, rastali, berangan and embun. The cultivars for cooking are nangka, tanduk and awak.

POPULAR CLONES

Mas This variety is very sensitive to its environment. The tree is 2.2m - 2.6m in height. The bunches are small weighing about 6 to 10kg and the each fruit is between 9-10cm long. The fruit has a thin skin which turns yellow on ripening. The flesh is yellowish and easily bruised.
Berangan The tree is 2.5m - 3.0m. The brunches are big and weigh between 8 - 20kg. The skin is thick and the fruit is yellow when ripe.
Cavendish (embun ) The tree is 3.0m - 3.5m tall. The bunches are big weighing about 10 - 20 kg and each fruit is between 15 - 20cm. The skin is thick and the fruit is yellow when ripe.
Rastali The tree is about 4.0cm high. The bunches weigh about 10kg each. The fruit is half the size of the embun, yellow rough skin with black to brown dots on the surface of the skin. The flesh is distinctive and slightly acidic in taste. It has poor keeping quality.
Tanduk Each bunch weights about 7-10 kg with only 2-3 combs in a bunch. Each comb consists of about 5-7 fingers (fruit). Each fruits is about 25-35 cm long with 6-7 cm diameter. The fleshis creamy white. The skin is thick and the fruit is yellow when ripe.
Awak A very hardy plant with a height of 4 - 5m. Each bunch weighs about 20 - 30kg. The fruit may or may not contain seeds.
Nangka The tree is about 2.5 - 3.0cm. The fruit is green with a red tinge at the base. Each bunch weighs about 11 - 14kg and each fruit is about 18cm long. The flesh is pale yellow with a sweet to sour taste and the skin is thick.

SOIL AND WEATHER REQUIREMENTS

Grows well on flat land but can tolerate slightly undulating areas. Suitable soil types are sandy clay loam, well drained with pH> 4.5, good moisture holding capacity. Peat and sandy soil should be avoided. The banana thrives well in the Malaysian climate. It requires a rainfall of 1000 - 2000cm a year but should not be in damp conditions for too long. The optimum temperature is 21o - 32oC

PROPAGATION

Suckers are normally used as planting material. There are many types of suckers namely sword suckers, water suckers, maiden sucker and peepers. Sword suckers, which are conical with very narrow leaves, are preferred because of their robustness.
The average planting distance is 3.0m x 3.0m. Planting holes of 60cm x 6cm x 30cm are dug and into each hole are placed 100 grams of phosphate (TSP) before planting.

FERTILIZER

Time Type of
Fertilizer 		Fertilizer Rate
per Hectare
At time of planting TSP 110 kg
1 month NPK 15:15:15 275 kg
3 months NPK 15:15:15 385 kg
5 months NPK mg 12:12:17:2 385 kg
1 month after first harvesting NPK mg 12:12:17:2 385 kg
3 months after NPK mg 12:12:17:2 385 kg
1 months after NPK mg 12:12:17:2 385 kg
3 months after NPK mg 12:12:17:2 385 kg
3 months after first harvesting NPK mg 12:12:17:2 385 kg

WEEDING

As banana roots are superficial, care is taken during weeding to ensure that root damage does not occur. Weeds in between rows are controlled with herbicides using sprayer with a protective cone to the spray nozzle.

SUCKER REMOVAL AND PRUNING

Desuckering is done when the trees are 4-5 months old and is done every 8 - 10 weeks.

PESTS AND DISEASES

Banana wilt is the most serious disease. Wilting begins with the leaf, followed by petiole and pseudostems. Control is by use of disease free suckers. Another fungus causes leaf spot and this is controlled by using copper oxychloride or propiconazote on the affected parts.
Pest include the borer caused by the weevil using suckers which are free of borers. Incisions of 0.5cm can be made in the skin and a combination of formula and Benomyl can be applied and left to dry to control this pest. Another pest, the banana stem borer (odoiporus longicollis) is controlled by applying 50gm of carbofuran in each hole before planting.

HARVESTING

The banana tree starts to produce flowers in 7 - 12 months after planting and is ready for harvesting about 7 - 11 weeks later, depending on the variety. Mas flowers 7 - 8 months after planting and is ready for harvesting 7-9 weeks later. The 'follower' plant will produce 3 - 4 months later, thus about four harvests from 1 clump per year is possible.

YIELD

The average yield per year for a 3 year-cycle is 9.6 tonnes per hectare for Mas, 12.0 tonnes per hectare for rastali and 20 - 40 tonnes per hectare for embun. The general average yield is about 7 tonnes for the first year, 12 tonnes for the second year and 10 tonnes for the third year per hectare.

USES

Fresh consumption
Processed products: Chips, cracker, powder, flour, jam fermented products, jelly, canned in syrup and dried dehydrated fruits. Trunk, leaf and skin is used for animal feed.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Component Per 100 gm edible portion
Food energy 103.0 calories
Moisture 73.3 gm
Protein 1.3 gm
Fat 0.4 gm
Carbohydrate 23.6 gm
Fibre 0.5 gm
Ash 0.9 gm
Calcium 11.0 mg
Phosphorous 28.0 mg
Iron 0.6 mg
Sodium 29.0 mg
Potassium 241.0 mg
Beta-Carotene 300.0 ug
Vitamin B1 0.07 mg
Vitamin B2 0.08 mg
Niacin 0.7 mg
Vitamin C17.0 mg

PRODUCTION / EXPORT

In 1992 about 192,808 tonnes of banana was produced in Malaysia and about 20,702 tonnes was exported to Singapore, Hong Kong and Western Europe.