XX Reunião Internacional da Associação para a Cooperação em

Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Integral das Musáceas (Bananas e Plátanos)

9 a 13 de setembro de 2013 – Fortaleza, CE

EFFECT OF FERTILIZER INSERTION IN THE HARVESTED MOTHER PLANT PSEUDOSTEM OF BANANA (Musa AAA SIMMONDS)
EFECTO DE LA INSERCIÓN DE FERTILIZANTE EN EL PSEUDOTALLO DE LA PLANTA MADRE COSECHADA DE
BANANO (Musa AAA Simmonds)
1 2 3 4 5
Felipe Galvis R. , Andrés Uribe V. , Gerardo Cayón S. , Stanislav Magnitskiy , Sebastián Henao R.

SUMMARY the different treatments in our experiment were due to a better

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of fertilizer performance in treatments T1, T2, T3 and T5, where three of these
insertion into the pseudostem of banana plants compared to treatments involve the most fertilizer insertion height (90 cm). Flores
conventional soil fertilization system. The study was conducted at and Lopez (1991) shows that the thickness of pseudostem were very
two locations (north and center of Urabá region), setting different similar when inserting fertilizer to the trunk of the recently harvested
rates of fertilizer treatments (75%, 100% and 125% of the mother plant and applying it in a semicircle around the sucker in
commercial rate) inserted at different heights (60 cm and 90 cm) succession.
having a soil application of fertilizers as a control treatment.
Biometric variables (height, pseudostem diameter, number of
leaves), physiological (specific leaf area and specific leaf weight),
and production were evaluated in plants. According to the results, it
was evident that the insertion height 90 cm of fertilizer was better
than 60 cm and fertilizer application in soil. Although no significant
differences were found between doses of fertilizer, we observed a
trend of better performance of plants in treatment of 75% and 100%
fertilizer dose inserted at 90 cm height.
Key words: conventional soil fertilization, biometric variables,
translocation nutrients sucker.

INTRODUCTION
The need to search for alternative ways of fertilizer applications and
for more efficient nutrient use in periods of drought or extreme
rainfall, allowed developing new alternatives for fertilizer application,
such as their direct insertion into the vascular system of the
pseudostem of the harvested plant, considering the plant
interconnection between the mother plant and the sucker in
succession (Rodríguez et al., 2006). This is a viable technique in
terms of costs and maximization of fertilizer (Flores and Lopez,
1991), and provides the opportunity to apply other treatments such
as growth regulators (Ardila, 2010). The objectives of this study were
to analyze the effect of fertilizer inserting in banana pseudostem as
compared with soil fertilization system, identify the advantages and
disadvantages of each of the application modes in terms of plant
growth and production.
Figure 1. Dynamics of pseudostem diameter in banana plants subjected to
different treatments of fertilizer insertion in the harvested mother plant
pseudostem.
The bunch weight (Figure 2) had a similar pattern in treatments
involving the insertion height of 90 cm. Treatments that were applied
to 60 cm showed the lowest values in each of doses (T2: 20.5 kg, T4:
20.22 kg, and T6: 18.5 kg) compared with applications that were
made at 90 cm (T1: 21.8 kg, T3: 22 kg, and T5: 21.2 kg), possibly
due to the translocation efficiency of nutrients when the insertion was
made at a greater height. Regarding the control treatment (21 kg),
indicating that were no found major differences with other different
treatments, similar to results reported by Flores and Lopez (1991).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The experiment was conducted in the banana region of Urabá
(Colombia), on two farms owned Banacol S.A. The plant material
from banana plants of cultivar Valery was used on the farm Rita
María, and cultivar Grand Nain was employed on the farm Retiro.
Freshly harvested mother 12 plants per treatment were selected that
have a pseudostem of 1.80 m height and were distributed randomly
in lots of each farm. On each farm 84 plants in total (12 replicates x 7
treatments) were taken that were subjected to seven treatments: T1:
Conventional dose + 25% fertilizer inserted at 90 cm height; T2:
Conventional dose + 25% fertilizer inserted at 60 cm height; T3:
Conventional dose inserted at 90 cm height; T4: Conventional dose Figure 2. Weight of the bunch of plants subjected to different treatments of
inserted at 60 cm height; T5: 75% of the conventional dose inserted fertilizer insertion in the harvested mother plant pseudostem.
at 90 cm height; T6: 75% of the conventional dose inserted at 60 cm
height; T7: Conventional soil fertilization (control). The following data
were recorded and quantified: height and diameter of the plant, CONCLUSIONS
number of emerged leaves, leaf area, specific leaf area and specific The methodology of fertilizer insertion in the pseudostem of
leaf weight, and production. These data were analyzed using a harvested mother plant could be equal or superior than soil
factorial design 3x2 +1, with 3 being the fertilizer dose factor (75%, fertilization in a semicircle around the sucker The height of 90 cm of
100% and 125%), 2 being insertion height (60 cm and 90 cm) and 1 fertilizer insertion were more efficient in the translocation of the
being the control treatment; additionally, it was performed a Duncan nutrients to the sucker.
test using the statistical software SAS (Statistical Analysis System,
SAS Institute). REFERENCES
1. Ardila, Y.P. Trabajo de Grado Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad Nacional de
Colombia, Bogotá, 29 p., 2010.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 2. Flores, C. and C. López. Abstracts ACORBAT 91. Villahermosa, México, pp.3-8, 1991.
Perimeter dynamics during the experiment showed no significant Rodríguez, C.; Cayón, G.; Mira, J.J. Agronomía Colombiana 24 (2): 274-279, 2006.
differences at any of the development stages evaluated in both farms
(Figure 1). The visual differences observed for plant diameter among

1
Ingeniero agrónomo, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. ifgalvisr@unal.edu.co
2
Ingeniero agrónomo, Abocol S.A., Bogotá. afuribev@unal.edu.co
3
Profesor asociado Universidad Nacional de Colombia, apartado aéreo 14490, Bogotá, Colombia. dgcayons@unal.edu.co
4
Profesor asociado Universidad Nacional de Colombia, apartado aéreo 14490, Bogotá, Colombia. svmagnitskiy@unal.edu.co
5
Ingeniero agrónomo, Banacol S.A., Apartadó, Colombia. Juan.Henao@banacol.com.co
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