Field Performance of In vitro-propagated and Sucker-derived Plants of Banana(Musa spp.)

摘要

The field performance of in vitro-propagated banana(Musa spp.)plants was compared with that of the sucker-derived plants.In vitro-propagated plants established and grew faster, taller and bigger than the conventional sucker-derived plants.The former produced more leaves resulting in a larger total leaf area(8001.5 cm2 per plant)than the latter(6613.1 cm2 per plant)and could be harvested earlier.The former also produced heavier bunches and fruit(15.2 kg for bunch and 200 g per finger of fruit)than the latter(9.0 kg for bunch and 136.4 g per finger of fruit).In this experiment, the in vitro-propagated plants had many intact roots and a bulk of vermiculite around their roots but the sucker-derived plants had many damaged roots at the time of planting.In addition, in vitro-propagated plants started growth earlier and grew faster enabling them to intercept more light for photosynthesis than the sucker-derived plants.This may explain the higher yield in the in vitro-propagated plants.We conclude that in vitro-propagated Shima banana performs better in terms of growth and yield than the sucker-derived plants under field conditions.