ICAR-NRCB

Plough the land thoroughly at least 3-4 times and add about 10 tonnes of well-rotted FYM or compost during the last plough.

Select ‘Sword Suckers’ with broad corm from disease-free mother plants.
The suckers should be 3-5 months old, uniform in size, weighing 1-1.5 kg for certain varieties.

The selected suckers should be ‘pared’ by trimming all the roots and surface layers to remove any rotten portion of the corm.
Dip the pared suckers in 0.2% Carbendazim solution for about 15–20 minutes as a prophylactic measure against Fusarium wilt disease.
Plant the suckers in the center of the pit and press the soil around firmly.
Apply Carbofuron granules per pit to protect against nematode attack and irrigate thoroughly.
For tissue culture plants, apply Carbofuron and bleaching powder or Emissan in polythene bags to protect against nematode infestation and bacterial rot disease.

The soil around the plants should be pressed firmly for better and quick establishment of the plants.
Wherever necessary, ‘Gap Filling’ should be done to replace the un-sprouted as well as rotten suckers. Seeds of green manure crops viz., cowpea or sunnhemp be sown.
For additional income and effective land use efficiency, short duration crops such as onion, green gram, black gram, beans, radish, greens, marigold, and short duration vegetables can be grown as intercrop.
Tomato, chili, and cucurbits should not be grown as intercrop since these crops harbor nematodes and aphids, which act as vectors of virus spread.

Green manures viz., cowpea or sunnhemp should be ploughed back into the soil at the flowering stage or about 40 days after sowing.
Slight digging and earthing up to keep the weeds under control.
For Fusarium wilt susceptible varieties, drench the soil with Carbendazim or apply biological agents.

S.No	Method of Planting	Spacing (m)	Plant Population/ha
1	CONVENTIONAL PLANTING
i)	Dwarf Cavendish	1.5x1.5	4440
ii)	Robusta and Nendran	1.8x1.8	3080
iii)	Rasthali, Poovan, Karpuravalli, Monthan	2.1x2.1	2260
2	HIGH DENSITY PLANTING
a)	Paired row planting system i) Dwarf Cavendish ii) Robusta, Grand Naine, Poovan, Rasthali and Ney Poovan	1.2x1.2x2.0 1.5x1.5x2.0	5200 3800
b)	Three suckers/hill (Robusta, Nendran)	1.8x3.6	4500

Sl.	Crop Growth Stage	Duration (weeks)	Quantity of Water (litre/plant)
1.	After Planting / Ratoon	1-4	4-6
2.	Juvenile Phase	5-9	8-10
3.	Critical Growth Stage	10-19	12
4.	Flower Bud Differentiation Stage	20-32	16-20
5.	Shooting Stage	33-37	20 and above*
6.	Bunch Development Stage	38-50	20 and above*

Weeks after Planting	Urea	Total (g/plant)	MOP	Total (g/plant)
9 to 18 weeks (10 weeks)	15	150	8	80
19 to 30 weeks (12 weeks)	10	120	10	120
31 to 40 weeks (10 weeks)	7	70	12	120
41 to 46 weeks (5 weeks)	Nil	Nil	10	50
Total	----	340	----	375

Preparation of land