Low-cost farmers’ friendly technology for propagation of banana: A strategic seed system approach for banana cultivation in India

The key issue of commercial banana cultivation is the use of healthy planting material and its availability at affordable cost, especially to the small and marginal farmers. This study aims to address the seed system of banana for the world’s largest banana producing country through the largest research system, the ICAR–All India Coordinated Research Project (Fruits) with support of ICAR-NRCB as technology inventor. Materials and methods – Study was carried out at nine banana growing states of India. Low-cost structure (polythene shade and agro-shade net) and few locally available low-cost materials were used to standardize the technique and media for low-cost multiplication through macropropagation of nine regional varieties of nine states and one common variety (‘Grand Naine’). Field performance of macropropagated banana plants were evaluated at respective research stations of nine states with standard package of practices of respective regions and compared with conventional method (sucker grown plant). Results and discussion – The standardized media composition and technique of low-cost farmers’ friendly technology (macropropagation) recorded average multiplication rate of 17.26 number of plantlets per corm of regional varieties and 22.15 plantlets per corm in ‘Grand Naine’. These banana plants performed better with respect to early and uniform flowering, plant growth, yield and quality of fruit and profit margin to the growers (B:C ratio), compared to sucker raised plants, in the states of Karnataka, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar. Yield increase of macropropagated plant was 7.94 to 49.34% in different regional varieties and 6.77 to 70.99% in ‘Grand Naine’ over the conventional source of planting materials (sucker raised plants). The macropropagated banana plants recorded earliness in flowering by 8.20 to 90.05 days in ‘Grand Naine’ and 6.79 to 91.52 days in regional varieties, as compared with the variety of plants raised from suckers. Based on the results of three multiplication cycles of banana macropropagation and three crop cycles of evaluation (MLT) trial, the technology was transferred to clients (farmers, nurserymen, growers’ association) in nine states for wide scale technology adoption and promotion of rural enterprise. Conclusion – Macropropagation is a low-cost and simple technology for multiplication of better-quality planting materials of region-specific banana variety, using low-cost structure (polythene shade and agro-shade net) and few locally available low-cost materials (saw dust, vermicompost, banana suckers, etc.). This low-cost farmers’ friendly technology has been standardized and adoption process started for the major banana growing states in India (Karnataka, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar) and conceptualized as a strategic seed system approach to the small and marginal holding commercial cultivation of regional banana varieties, for sustainability of production and boosting rural enterprise.