EFFECT OF AGE OF SUCKERS AND BUNCH COVERING ON YIELD AND QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF BANANA CV. AMRITSAGAR
ABSTRACT
The investigation was carried out at the Horticulture farm of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from April to October, 2019. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two factors and five replications. Factor A was different aged suckers namely A1= 1st year sucker, A2= 2nd year sucker and A3= 3rd year sucker. Factor B was different types of bagging like B1= Black, B2= White, B3= Blue and B4= Control. Five fingers were randomly selected from each hand and were analyzed for different parameters. The result of the experiment showed that all the parameters were studied found significantly different among the treatments. Among the effect of sucker age, the highest plant height (301cm), plant diameter (74.4 cm), number of fingers per bunch (55.1), bunch weight per plant (13.15 kg), weight all hands per bunch (11.79 kg), weight of single finger at ripening time (145.4 g) were found from A3 (3rd year sucker ). Also, the highest weight of single pulp at ripening time (107.3 g), weight of single peel at ripening time (38.0 g), TSS (20.05 %), moisture content of pulp (78.4 %), dry weight of peel (5.36 g) and moisture content of peel (85.76%) was found from A3 (3rd year sucker). On the other hand, among the effect of bagging, the highest growth and yield like fingers per bunch (57.47), bunch weight per plant (12.83 kg), weight all hands per bunch (11.42 kg) were found in B2 (white polythene). Also, the highest weight of single finger at harvesting time (157 g), weight of single finger at ripening time (137.3 g), weight of pulp at ripening time (102.3 g), moisture content of pulp (78.77%), moisture content of peel (85.41%) were found from B2 (white polythene). The combined effect of sucker age and bagging materials, the highest growth and yield like length of bunch (76.2cm), bunch weight per plant (14.58kg), weight all hands per bunch (13.04 kg) was found in A3B2 (3rd year sucker with white polythene). In a nutshell, the present study showed that different aged suckers and bunch covering had a better effect on physio-morphological characteristics, yield and quality.