IRRIGATION SCHEDULING AND TECHNIQUES IN BANANA

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IRRIGATIONIRRIGATION

Bananas require constant water

supply throughout their growth.

For the first 6 months use drip and

basin irrigation.

Put enough water in each basin (25

litres of water every 2-3 days).

The amount of water can be

decreased or increased depending

on the weather conditions and the

soil type.

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Irrigation should be given immediately after planting and life

irrigation after 3-4 days, subsequently irrigations are to be

given once in a week for irrigated plantations of garden lands

and once in 10-15 days for wet lands.

The field should be sufficiently irrigated after every manuring.

After 6 months some other method of irrigation like sprinkler

irrigation so that the whole ground is watered, can be

adopted.

Sprinklers would be more appropriate beyond 6 months.

Irrigating for 6 to 8 hours every three to four days would be

sufficient depending on weather conditions.

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If the use of the hose is to be continued, then watering should

no longer be restricted to the basin because the roots would

have spread beyond the basin.

Flooding can be used on flat land.

However, flooding on slopes is discouraged because it can

cause soil erosion.

Drip irrigation can be advantageous to reduce water loss in

conveyance and improving efficiency. Drip systems are

especially useful in salt affected soil. Nearly 40 % savings in

water is noticed when drip systems are used.

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Field trials conducted at TNAU have indicated that about 16-20

litres of water would be required everyday for each plant,

depending upon the stages of the growth.

Research findings showed that banana responds well upto 25

litres of drip irrigation per day resulting in maximum yield.

Irrigate newly-planted tissue culture banana plants every day for

2 weeks (15 minutes per irrigation) to protect leaves from heat

stress. In the absence of rain, irrigation water should be applied

on a “little and often” basis to banana plants.

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For heavy loamy soil apply 20 mm of water every 3 days in summer and every 8 days in

winter. Find out the delivery rate of sprinkler nozzles.

Example: Nozzle delivery = 3 mm per hour For every irrigation, run the system for 20 hours divided by 3

hours = 6 hours and 40 minutes (20/3 = 6 hours, 40 min) For light sandy soil apply 12 mm water every 2 days in summer

and every 5 days in winter. Find out the delivery rate of sprinkler nozzles.

Example: Nozzle delivery = 3 mm per hour For every irrigation, run the system for 12 hours divided by 3

hours = 4 hours (12/3 = 4 hours).

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FERTIGATIONFERTIGATION

It is possible to regulate and supply the required nutrients

through irrigation water if drip systems have been laid out.

This will help in obtaining very high yields compared to

conventional method of fertilizer application in the soil.

The dosages required by the plant can also be reduced by 25-

50 % when the fertigation is practiced along with high density

planting.

Experiments conducted at this department showed that

weekly scheduling of fertigation is sufficient and different

nutrients are to be given at different stages as indicated.

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Fertigation scheduling of weekly basis

Weeks after planting

NPK / plant in grams*

N P K

g/week Total (g) g/week Total (g) g/week Total (g)

9th to 18th (10 weeks) 2.48 24.75 3.5 35.00 4.95 49.50

19th to 30th

(12 weeks) 3.44 41.25 -- -- 8.25 99.00

31st to 42nd

(12 weeks) 1.38 16.50 -- -- 6.60 79.20

43rd to 46th

(4 weeks) -- -- -- -- 4.95 19.80

Total 82.50* 35.00* 247.50*

* 75 % of recommended dose for soil application

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