Basant Chalise1,2*, Arjun Kumar Shrestha2 , Arvind Srivastava2 and Kalyani Mishra Tripathi2
1Directorate of Agricultural Research, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Khajura, Banke, Nepal
2Agriculture and Forestry University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal
*Corresponding Author’s Email: basantchalise@gmail.com
*Orcid ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6203-1230
Received on: 15 August, 2023 Revised on: 26 November, 2023 Accepted on: 5 December, 2023
A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of plant nutrients on yield and fruit quality of ‘Grand
Naine’ banana under alkaline soil conditions for the two cropping seasons 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 at
Directorate of Agricultural Research (DoAR), Khajura. The trial was laid out in a randomized complete block
design consisting of seven treatments replicated three times having four plants in an experimental plot. Planting
of tissue culture banana was done at 2×2 m spacing on 4th July 2020 and suckers selected from the same plant on
the same date were taken as the first ratoon crop. Farmyard manure was applied at four, chemical fertilizers at
six, and micronutrients at three installments. The pooled results revealed that the longest bunch (114.30 cm), the
highest number of hands (10.08) and finger number per bunch (185.80) and second hand (21.50), the heaviest
bunch (25.74 kg) and second-hand weight (3.28 kg), the highest finger length (21.08 cm), diameter (3.85 cm)
and weight (156.20 g) and bunch yield (64.35 mt/ha), the highest TSS (20.20%), TSS: TA ratio (47.10) and total
sugar (12.55%) and the lowest TA (0.43%) were registered in T3 (20 kg FYM, 250:250:350 g NPK along with
foliar spray of four types of micronutrients viz. Zn, Fe, Cu and B at 3rd 5th and 7th months of planting. Hence,
from the study banana growers are recommended to use FYM, chemical fertilizers along with a foliar spray
of micronutrients, at least three times in the vegetative growth stage of bananas for higher yield and improved
quality of fruits.