GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF BANANA PRATA-ANA FERTILIZED WITH ORGANIC COMPOST DURING FIVE CROPS

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of organic manure for five crops, on growth and yield characteristics of banana 'Prata-ana'. The experiment was installed in Botucatu, SP, Brazil, in November 2002 with conventional plants spaced 2.5 x 2.5 m. Plants were fertilized with organic compost produced with sawdust and manure, properly composted, which provided the following treatments: 0, 43, 86, 129 and 172 kg of compost per plant. The compost rates were calculated according to the potassium content in the compost. In 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, at blooming, the pseudostem circumference and the plants height were evaluated, as well as the number of living leaves per plant. At harvest, the bunch weight, the number of fruits per bunch, the number of hands per bunch, the bunch weight of the 2(nd), the number of fruits in the 2(nd) bunch, the fruit length and diameter were evaluated. The organic compost rates did not influence the plant growth. However, concerning the crop cycles it was observed a decrease in the leaves number from the second cycle on, and also changes in plants height and pseudostem circumference. In this study, where the K2O rates ranged from zero to 394 g per plant, the bunches of higher weight were obtained with the two higher amounts of compost, which indicates that economically, the dose of 129 kg compost per plant, which corresponds to 290.5 g of K2O per plant, is the best to be recommended.