GENOMIC CLASSIFICATION OF INDIAN BANANA CULTIVARS

Studies on morphological characters, taxonomic scoring, and chromosome numbers of 100 South Indian banana cultivars revealed that many of the cultivar names are synonymous, The cultivars Sanna Chenkadali (AA) and Eraichivazhai (AA) had some characteristics of Musa balbisiana, Diploid clones occurred more frequently than has been suggested by Simmonds. The cultivars Krishna vazhai, Vannan, Virupakshi, Sirumalai, Agniswar, Padali moongil, Kostha bontha, and Venneettu mannan were added to the genomic group AB, In the groups AAB and ABB, cultivars exhibited the characteristic traits of Musa acuminata and M. balbisiana in various degrees. The groups AB, AAB, and ABB were common in the cultivated bananas of India.