How to make your bananas more productive
THE second rain season is beginning according to Uganda Meteorological department officials. “This is the right time to begin desuckering and spacing to target high banana yields,†says Piet van Asten, the system agronomist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-Uganda (IITA).
THE second rain season is beginning according to Uganda Meteorological department officials. “This is the right time to begin desuckering and spacing to target high banana yields,†says Piet van Asten, the system agronomist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-Uganda (IITA).
Asten says desuckering removes excess suckers to maintain one mother plant, one daughter and a granddaughter. “You have to maintain suckers that will produce a bunch in October and December. In western Uganda, for example, suckers that will produce bunches in October and December emerge in January and February,†he says.
“To increase income from matooke, it is better to have many medium sized bunches, than few large bunches. To get medium-sized bunches a farmer needs to increase plant spacing in dry areas since the matooke plants need more water during this time,†he says.
The ideal plant spacing for medium-sized bunches in the four rainfall zones in Uganda differs. The dry zones that receive less than 1,000mm per annum should have spacing of three metres by three metres.
The zones that are slightly wet and (receiving 1,000 to 1,200mm per annum of rain) should have a spacing of three metres by two metres.
The third zone that receives 1,200 to 1,400mm per annum spacing should be two and half metres by two metres. The fourth zone which receives 1,400mm and above should have a spacing of two metres by two metres.
Asten says matooke is more expensive in October and December. Although bunches of matooke are bigger in June to August in the dry season, the farmers earn less from sales.
Matooke is the most important food crop in Uganda produced by millions of smallholder farmers with yields are as low as five to 30 metric tonnes per hectare a year compared to potential yields of 70 metric tonnes.
“Africa’s aging soils, the ferralsols and acrisols, have been reported to be poor and depend on organic matter. It is only the Rwenzori and Elgon mountains that have volcanic soils which are still young and fertile,†says Asten.
The USAID on-farm funded study under APEP was carried out by IITA. The study started in 2006 on 100 banana mono-crop (density two metres by two-and-a-half metres) and 100 coffee-banana intercrop gardens. Fifty percent of the gardens were divided in demonstration and control garden plots respectively.
For more information visit website www.iita.org . Send your questions to Piet van Asten (IITA), p.vanasten@cgiar.org and
0752 787 812
Asten says desuckering removes excess suckers to maintain one mother plant, one daughter and a granddaughter. “You have to maintain suckers that will produce a bunch in October and December. In western Uganda, for example, suckers that will produce bunches in October and December emerge in January and February,†he says.
“To increase income from matooke, it is better to have many medium sized bunches, than few large bunches. To get medium-sized bunches a farmer needs to increase plant spacing in dry areas since the matooke plants need more water during this time,†he says.
The ideal plant spacing for medium-sized bunches in the four rainfall zones in Uganda differs. The dry zones that receive less than 1,000mm per annum should have spacing of three metres by three metres.
The zones that are slightly wet and (receiving 1,000 to 1,200mm per annum of rain) should have a spacing of three metres by two metres.
The third zone that receives 1,200 to 1,400mm per annum spacing should be two and half metres by two metres. The fourth zone which receives 1,400mm and above should have a spacing of two metres by two metres.
Asten says matooke is more expensive in October and December. Although bunches of matooke are bigger in June to August in the dry season, the farmers earn less from sales.
Matooke is the most important food crop in Uganda produced by millions of smallholder farmers with yields are as low as five to 30 metric tonnes per hectare a year compared to potential yields of 70 metric tonnes.
“Africa’s aging soils, the ferralsols and acrisols, have been reported to be poor and depend on organic matter. It is only the Rwenzori and Elgon mountains that have volcanic soils which are still young and fertile,†says Asten.
The USAID on-farm funded study under APEP was carried out by IITA. The study started in 2006 on 100 banana mono-crop (density two metres by two-and-a-half metres) and 100 coffee-banana intercrop gardens. Fifty percent of the gardens were divided in demonstration and control garden plots respectively.
For more information visit website www.iita.org . Send your questions to Piet van Asten (IITA), p.vanasten@cgiar.org and
0752 787 812