• Banana can grow from the poorest to the richest type of soil with varying success.

• The soil should be tested before banana cultivation

• The soil should have good drainage, adequate fertility and moisture.

• Deep, rich loamy  and salty clay loam soil with pH between 6-7.5 is most preferred for banana cultivation.

• Ill drained, poorly aerated and nutritionally deficient soils are not suitable for banana.

• Extreme clayey, Sandy soil, Saline soil and Calcareous soil is not suitable for Banana cultivation.

• Avoided soil of low lying areas, very sandy & heavy black cotton with ill drainage.

• A soil that is not too acidic & not too alkaline, rich in organic material with high nitrogen content, adequate phosphorus level and plenty of potash are good for banana.

• Wetlands:  no preparatory cultivation is needed

• Garden lands: 2-4 ploughings are required 

• Padugai : one deep spade digging is needed

• Hill Banana: Cleaning the jungle and construction of contour stone walls before planting is required.

• Prior to planting banana, grow the green manuring crop like daincha, cowpea plough insist in the field.The selected field must be ploughed 4-6 times and allowed to weather for two weeks.

• Rotovator or harrow is used to break the clod and bring the soil to a fine tilt. During soil preparation basal dose of FYM (about 50 tonnes/ha. before last harrowing) is added and thoroughly mixed into the soil.

• The field is leveled by passing a blade harrow or laser leveler.

•  Land Leveling through Laser Leveler is one such proven technology that is highly useful in conservation of irrigation water. Laser land leveling is leveling the field within certain degree of desired slope using a guided laser beam throughout the field.

  During the growth cycle, plants develop essentially three major components

  1. an underground corm, producing suckers and roots.

  2. a pseudo stem, consisting of encircling leaf sheaths and carrying the leaves.

  3. an inflorescence, containing female flowers that develop into fruits.

  4. The length of the growth cycle depends on the cultivar.

cultural Operations

..... Desuckering

..... Propping

..... Mulching

..... Removal of withered styles and Perianth

..... Pruning of Leaves

..... Mattacking

..... Earthing up

..... Bunch Covering

..... Denavelling

..... Bunch Thinning

..... Peduncle Wrapping

..... Tagging

..... Wind Break