Growth response of plants derived from pathogen-free banana fragments to different substrates

Abstract

Production of vivoplants of banana and plantain is an important step in the use in the field of healthy planting material, free of bacterial or viral infection. The objective of this study was to assess the recovery and the subsequent seedlings growth from banana fragments to different substrates for rapid multiplication of banana suckers in Benin. An experiment was set up following a two-factor split plot arrangement with three repetitions. The first factor was the substrate at three levels (White sawdust, Coconut peat + sand and White sawdust + cassava effluent); and the second was the cultivar free from bacterial and viral infections, with four levels (Aloga, Planta, Sotoumon and Gunkoékoé), totally 12 treatments. From the results, the appearance of the buds depended on the nature of the substrate and the type of cultivar. Coco peat + sand and sawdust + cassava effluent were significantly different (P<0.001) in influencing the number of leaves and roots, leaf area, plant height, diameter at the collar of the seedlings and the number of young seedlings per banana explant. The highest number of leaves and roots, and young seedlings; and greatest plant height and diameter were obtained with coco peat + sand and white sawdust + cassava effluent, at the collar of the seedlings. From this study, it is clear that coconut peat + sand is the best substrate for the rapid multiplication of banana plantlets from the fragments method.