The Central American countries are famous as ‘Banana Republics’ because bananas are a major export of these countries.
The French have a variety called Grande Naine, an oxymoron meaning ‘Giant Dwarf’ in French. The name suits this variety because it is a dwarf plant with a giant bunch of bananas that sometimes needs a hollow to be dug near the base of the plant to accommodate the length of the fruit bunch.
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The most popular varieties in Goa are the local thick-skinned variety known, simply as Saldatti and the smaller cardamom-flavoured variety called Velchi. Both have a good shelf-life.
Recently, the large culinary-type Moira, or Myndoli, banana was been given a ‘Geographical indication’ or GI for Goa. It is now extensively grown on either bank of the River Chapora – at Menkurem in Bicholim, and Ibrampur-Hassapur in Pernem. It is similar to the Nendran banana of Kerala that is used to make banana chips, deep-fried in coconut oil.
This variety can be cooked with ghee, water and sugar to make a gulab jamun-like halwa, often eaten with puri or bread. It can be sliced lengthwise and shallow-fried in desi ghee and sprinkled with sugar to make a wonderful sweet.
When the skin begins to turn black, it can be sliced and served with ice-cream and honey as banana-split, or simply eaten like any other banana.
The major problem in Moira village, which has been growing Myndoli bananas continuously for almost a century, is that root-burrowing nematodes like the Pratilynchus species have become domiciled in its soil.
These microscopic organisms burrow into the roots of the banana, like ringworms in human flesh. The roots disintegrate and the banana plant loses its anchorage in the ground. It topples with the weight of the leaves and the fruit bunch.
It is now extensively grown on either bank of the River Chapora – at Menkurem in Bicholim, and Ibrampur-Hassapur in Pernem. It is similar to the Nendran banana of Kerala that is used to make banana chips, deep-fried in coconut oil.
Fortunately for us, biological formulations are now available in Goa to effectively control the root-burrowing nematodes in banana without using chemicals like Furadon.
Mix 2 kg of Paecilomyces lilacinus (entomophagus bio-nematicide available as ‘Niyantran’) with one tonne of vermicompost. Cover it with polythene sheet for twenty days to maintain moisture, but uncover to mix every five days.
Apply the enriched compost at the rate of about 1 kg per banana plant when transplanting the suckers or in a ring to older clumps. The fungal agents will multiply on their own if the soil acidity is managed by application of lime powder (chuno or neeru) and or rock phosphate, as needed.
Plants are propagated by tissue culture or by suckers as in pineapples. The suckers with conical stems and narrow leaves are known as ‘sword suckers’. Those with cylindrical stems and broad leaves are known as ‘maiden suckers’, since they resemble the adult plant.
Sword suckers are normally separated from the ‘mother plant’ with a crowbar and sold or used for planting in new areas. Only one maiden sucker is allowed to remain as a matrilineal successor in the clump.
Fortunately for us, biological formulations are now available in Goa to effectively control the root-burrowing nematodes in banana without using chemicals like Furadon.
After three years, fresh sword suckers are normally planted in the gaps between the old clumps that are normally planted 1.5 m to 2 m apart.
It is time to grow bananas scientifically and profitably.
(The author is the former Chairman of the GCCI Agriculture Committee, CEO of Planter's Choice Pvt Ltd, Additional Director of OFAI and Garden Superintendent of Goa University, and has edited 18 books for Goa & Konkan)