Abstract:

The use of farmyard manure is one of the most important factors that increase the production cost in banana production in Turkey. Besides the high cost of farmyard manure, it is very difficult to obtain the quality as usual. In this study, the effect of pumice on yield and quality was investigated in open-field condition. ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ (AAA) was used as plant material and 5 kg, 7.5 kg and 10 kg pumice per plant were tested. In this research, plant morphological characteristics (pseudostem circumference, leaf number, pseudostem height, bunch stalk circumference) fruit development time, yield and yield components (hand and finger number, finger weight, circumference and length) and some fruit quality criteria took into consideration. It was shown that, the treatments affected statistically only pseudostem height and bunch stalk circumference in morphological criteria, and all the yield and fruit quality criteria positively affected compare to control. Hand number, finger number, finger weight and bunch weight which are directly associated with yield increased as the level of pumice increased. Yield is recorded as 55.84 tons ha-1 in control treatment and 62.93 tons ha-1 in the 10 kg pumice/per plant treatments. In addition, it was shown that pumice treatments shorten the fruit development period compared to the control treatment. Furthermore, it was observed that the pumice treatment resulted in an increase in the amount of sucrose. Finally, the use of pumice increased the yield and quality when compared to the control in open-field banana cultivation. Considering all the properties and costs examined, 7.5 kg of pumice/plant is recommended for open-field banana cultivation.

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