Assessing the productivity of Mchare Banana under drip irrigation and rainfed conditions in Northern Tanzania

Abstract

Mchare banana (Musa spp. AA genome) is a primary household’s source of diet and incomegenerating crop

in the Northern part of Tanzania. Despite its importance and popularity, the yield records of Mchare - Huti Green (HG) cultivated under drip irrigation remain unavailable in the area. The overall objective was to quantify yield benefit of Mchare - Huti Green banana plant grown under full drip irrigation (FD) compared with rainfed - based (RF) in Meru District, Arusha Region. The performance of HG under FD and rainfed condition (RF) was quantified by recording the vegetative parameters and yield and yield components at harvest. The results for mean bunch weight in FD was 28.3 ± 1.75 kg plant -1 and that of RF 19.6 ± 0.97 kg plant -1

and fresh aboveground biomass (AGB) in FD was 78.81 ± 2.61kg plant -1 compared with RF 59.23 ± 1.06 kg plant -1 . The correlation coefficient for banana growth parameters and bunch weight indicated significant exemplified by pseudostem girth base (r = 0.48, < 0.001),1 m height (r = 0.38, < = 0.05) and mid-height (r = 0.51, <0.01), pseudostem volume (r = 0.38, < 0.01), height (r = 0.47 < 0.01), LA (r = 0.32 < 0.05) and LAI (r = 0.29 < 0.05) with correlation range 0.44 to 0.73 respectively. Conversely, for banana bunch weight and its components, correlation ranged from 0.30 to 0.50. Based on the current findings, banana plants under the FD outperformed those under the RF in terms of growth and yield. Therefore, the FD is hereby highly recommended for application in a banana for improved yield of banana in the study area.