EFFECTS OF TREE DENSITY AND CROP MANAGEMENT UPON GROWTH OF PLANTAIN IN A LOW-INPUT AGRISILVICULTURAL SYSTEM

The feasibility of growing plantain as an understorey crop in timber plantations was assessed.
The effects of timber stand density, and burning the biomass versus mulching and intercropping with cocoyam upon percentages of flowering plants and their height, circumference, number of standing leaves, number and size of suckers at flowering were observed in a six and an 18 year old timber plantation.
In the six year old plantation, significantly more plants had flowered in the low (28%) than in the high (14.1%) timber stand density by 500 days after planting (DAP). At flowering, plants were more etiolated, being taller with a smaller circumference, in the high timber stand density.
In the older plantation, fewer plants had flowered by 500 DAP, 10.6% in the low compared to 0.8% in the high timber stand density.
In summary, a higher timber stand density significantly prolonged the planting to flowering period and resulted in etiolated plants at flowering.
In the older plantation, the higher timber stand density was not viable for plantain production.

II International Symposium on Banana: I International Symposium on Banana in the Subtropics

L. Norgrove, S. Hauser

Xanthosoma sagittifolium, timber, Musa, shade, mulching, intercropping

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1998.490.18