Nutrient management for banana

Tu Shihua

IPNI Chengdu Office

Fujian

10.8%

Guangdong

46.3%

Guangxi

19.8%

Hainan

13.5%

Yunnan

8.1%

Others

1.5%

Banana planting area: 276.3Kha in 2005

Ranks the 2nd among tropical and subtropical fruits, after citrus

Banana production in China

Banana production: 6.52 Mt in 2005

Guangdong 50.6%

Guangxi 17.9%

Hainan 14.0%

Yunnan

3.8% Fujian 13.2%

Others 0.5%

Best Nutrient management for Banana

1. Nutrient requirement

- Total amount

- Ratios of N:P:K (including Mg and Ca)

- Nutrient requirement at different growing stages

2. Soil nutrient status and fertilizer recommendations

- Soil test

- Assessment of total amounts of nutrients in soil

available to crops

- Fertilizer recommendations

3. Best fertilizer practices for banana

Best Nutrient management for Banana

- Right rates

- Different yield goals

- Different banana cultivars

- Different population/density

- MEY

- Right form

- Best for banana growth

- Best for application at different growth stages

- Best for foliar application

- Best for fertigation

Best Nutrient management for Banana

- Right time

- Basal application

- Side dressings at different growth stages

- Foliar application

- Fertigation

- Right placement

- Distance to banana pseudo stem and depth in soil profile

- Application methods – broadcast, pit, banding, etc.

- Assessment of fertilization on banana yield, quality, income and environment

- Extension：training, information dissemination, promoting technology use by the end users and farmers’ income

Progress in Banana Research

Nutrient requirement of major variety (kg/t banana)

Cultivar N P K

Zhongba Quantity 5.89 0.47 18.77

Ratio 1 0.08 3.19

Dwawt1 Quantity 5.93 0.48 18.07

Ratio 1 0.08 3.05

Dwawt2 Quantity 4.84 0.45 14.9

Ratio 1 0.09 3.08

Brazil Quantity 4.59 0.41 15.0

Ratio 1 0.09 3.27

Progress in Banana Research

- Nutrient requirement at different growing stages

- Nutrient contents, uptake and ratios in leaves at

different growing stages. For example:

N uptake: increases as banana grows and reaches its

peak at bud differentiation, and then drops down linearly

till maturity

K uptake: increases as banana grows and reaches its

peak at flower emergency, and then drops down

gradually till maturity

Progress in Banana Research

- Nutrient distribution in tissues/organs

N：Pulp(27%) >leaf (24%)>pseudo stem (21%)

K： pseudo stem (34%) >peel(14%)>pulp/leaf(12%)

Ca: pseudo stem (31%) >petiole (30%)>leaf (26%)

Mg: pseudo stem (31%) >leaf (20%)> petiole/corm/

pulp(13%-16%)

- Nutrient removal with fruit harvest as % of

54.8%P，38.6%N，33.4%K，31.5%S，17.8%Mg，8.0%Ca

Soil K contents and balanced fertilization

Soil available K N rate K2O/N ratio and K2O applied

(K2O, mg/kg) (N, kg/ha) 1rst year 2nd year

>900

750-900

no K 0.2-0.3

135-240

600-900 0.2-0.4

135-360

0.3-0.4

240-360

300-600 0.5-0.7

450-540

0.6-0.8

27-48

150-300 1.1-1.2

750-1080

1.1-1.2

750-1080

75-150 1.2～1.3

54～78

1.3～1.4

59～84

<75 1.2～1.4

54～84

1.3～1.4

59～84

2

3

B

1 B/2

A/2

A

1. Leaf 3

2. Midrib 3

3. Petiole leaf 7

1 Leaf 1 Leaf 2

Leaf 3

Tissue Analysis

(Lahav y Turner, 1992)

N

P

K

Ca

Mg

Na

Cl

S

Mn

Fe

Zn

B

Cu

Mo

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

(mg/kg)

(mg/kg)

(mg/kg)

(mg/kg)

(mg/kg)

(mg/kg)

2.6

0.2

3.0

0.5

0.3

0.005

0.6

0.23

25

80

18

11

9 1.5-3.2

0.65

0.08

3.0

0.5

0.3

0.005

0.65

--

80

50

12

10

7

--

0.4

0.07

2.1

0.5

0.3

0.005

0.7

0.36

70

30

8

8

5

--

Nutrient Leaf Midrib Petiole

Leaf 3 Leaf 3 Leaf 7

Critical levels in banana plant tissue

Progress in Banana Research

Nutrient deficiency

N Deficiency

Progress in Banana Research

Nutrient deficiency

P Deficiency

Progress in Banana Research

Nutrient deficiency

K Deficiency

Progress in Banana Research

Nutrient deficiency

Mg Deficiency

Progress in Banana Research

Nutrient deficiency

S Deficiency

Progress in Banana Research

Nutrient deficiency

S Deficiency

Severe Ca

deficiency can

stop plant

growth.

Zn B

Progress in Banana Research

Optimal rates and balanced fertilization

Treatment Yield

(t/ha)

Gross

income

(kg/ha)

Fert.

input

(RMB/ha)

Net

income

(RMB/ha)

Income

increase

（%）

951-462-1139 (FP) 44.85 67275.0 12150.0 29625.0 0.0

1056-462-1218 52.31 78457.5 14706.0

38251.5 436.5

1056-462-1479 49.95 74925.0 15115.5

34309.5 237.0

1056-462-1796 51.14 76702.5 15610.5 35592.0 301.5

Guangdong

Progress in Banana Research

Optimal rates and balanced fertilization

Fertilizer rates increases from the north to south in China, and

reached to the highest in Hainan.

N Rate

Banana yield (t/ha)

at different K rate (kg/ha) Average

Yield

(kg/ha) 0 1245 1868 2490

623 41.40 54.30 57.69 58.10 52.89 b

1245 41.70 56.90 67.70 66.69 58.29 a

1868 42.80 59.10 64.10 63.30 57.30 a

Average Yield

(kg/ha) 42.00 c 56.79 b 63.20 a 62.70 a

Hainan

Progress in Banana Research

Nutrients interaction: K x Mg

Treatment Yield

(kg/plot)

Yield

(kg/ha)

Yield increase

% % %

FP 211.3d 40635 -

K1 225.1abcd 43289 6.5 -

K1Mg1 235.8ab 45347 11.6 4.8

k1Mg2 227.3abcd 43712 7.8 1.0

K2 217.5cd 41828 2.9 -3.4 -

K2Mg2 237.3a 45635 12.3 9.1

K2Mg3 230.5abc 44327 9.1 6.0

K2Mg22 219.0bcd 42116 3.6 0.7

Progress in Banana Research

Nutrients interaction: K x Mg x Ca

Treatment Yield

（kg/ha）

Yield increase

kg/ha % kg/ha %

NPK1 34902a — —

NPK1Mg1 36288a 1386 4.0

NPK1Mg1Ca1 34890a -12 0

NPK1Mg2Ca1 35056a 154 0.4 — —

NPK1Mg2Ca2 35508a 606 1.7 452 1.3

NPK2Mg1Ca1 35095a 193 0.6

NPK2Mg2Ca1 35123a 221 0.6 — —

NPK2Mg2Ca2 34223a -679 -1.9 -900 -2.6

Progress in Banana Research

Banana special fertilizer production,including controlled release fertilizers

Future Research Focus

1. Soil test and available nutrient assessment

- Soil sampling：sampling depth

- Assessment of nutrient supply ability: differ from grain

crops

- Levels of soil available nutrients – the critical level and

fertilizer recommendation：hardly apply to N

recommendations

2. Right placement

- Distance to banana pseudo stem and depth in soil

profile

- Application methods – broadcast, pit, banding, etc.

Future Research Focus

3. Research on root distribution in soil profile

4. Fertilizer time: reduce the rate for early growing stages

and add to the mid- and later stages?

5. Fertilizer use efficiency

- Residue return and nutrient recycling

6. Gaps in banana nutrient management need to be

narrowed between provinces in China

Basic experiment design for nutrient

use efficiency on banana

Basic design

1. CK

2. NPK + secondary + micronutrients (OPT)

3. OPT - N

4. OPT - P

5. OPT – K

6. Others

Thanks !