Phosphorus mobilisation to uneconomic tissues and effects of bunch trimming regimes in banana

The movement and mobilisation of phosphorus in various tissues of banana was studied using P. The isotope was given by pseudostem injection and activity measured in various tissues. It was inferred that the male inflorescence, rhizome, fruit and fruit peduncle are the major nutrient sinks. The activity pattern in different hands showed that the highest activity was in the fourth followed by the third, second and fifth (terminal) and least in the first hand (first to emerge) in a five hand system. Another experiment conducted on various intensities of bunch trimming in a eight hand system revealed that trimming of three terminal hands improved yield and finger characters like length, girth and weight. The trimmed hands could be used as a vegetable and the retained hands for yielding quality fruits. Thus the same bunch serves the dual purpose of vegetable and fruit. The study underlines the imperative need for removing the male bud, fruit peduncle and undeveloped hands. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.