This document provides information on treating and caring for banana plants. It discusses treating planting materials with various chemicals like Dawn 2000 and Acer. It also discusses controlling common weeds through non-selective weedicides like Bound Off. For diseases, it describes Panama wilt, sigatoka leaf spot, and anthracnose and their symptoms and controls. It lists several insect pests that affect bananas like banana rhizome borer, banana stem weevil, banana rust thrips, banana silvery thrips, banana aphids and describes their appearance, damage caused, and control methods.

1. Banana
Package of Practices

2. Treatment of Planting Material
Treatment of Sucker or Tissue Culture Plant
– Dawn 2000-2 ml per lit
– Acer-2 gm per lit
– Biogold-10gm per lit

3. Dawn Super
2 ml per acre
Acer
2 gm per lit
Bio gold 10 gm
per lit

4. 5-7 gm per plant
5-7 gm per plant

5. Picaso Gold- 2 ml per lit
Bio Gold- 2 gm per lit
30 DAP,Repeat after 30 days
Gazab Ultra- 1 ml per lit
90DAP, repeat at 150 DAP,
Repeat at fruit setting
Pradhan-
2 kg per acre per day for 1-90 DAP

6. Weeds and their Controls

7. Common Weeds
ChinopodiaumCyperu RotundusMalilotus Alba
Phalaris Minor
Anangalis Arvensis
Poa Annua

8. Non Selective Weedicides
Applied either 15-
20 days before
Planting / Between
the Plants or in the
channels.
Dosage-2-2.5 Lit per acre
Dosage-500-750 ml per acre
Bound Off
Dosage-1-1.2 Kg per acre
Tower
Fire

9. Diseases and their control

10. Panama Wilt

11. Panama Wilt of Banana
Symptoms:
Panama wilt is caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense. Both external and internal
symptoms are present in the affected plant.
Symptoms commence as yellowing of older leaves and progresses to youngest leaf.
The affected leaves collapse gradually at the petiole and hang around the Pseudostem.
At advanced stages of the disease development, splitting of the Pseudostem occurs coinciding
with the collapse of crown.
Wilt is a vascular disease and attacks the conducting tissues. A transverse section of the
Pseudostem/leaf base/rhizome exhibits presence of wilt fungus in the form of purplish or
brownish-black discoloration of the vascular bundles that disrupts the translocation of nutrients
leading to collapse of foliage and cessation of the growth of the crown.
Control:
Provide good drainage in field wherever water stagnation occurs.
Bimonthly drenching and weekly spray with 0.2 % Remote Power/0.1% Figon for 2-3 weeks on
and around the infected plants.
Uproot severely infected plants and burn them. Liming of the infected soil at the site of uprooted
plants, helps in reducing the survival of fungus.

12. Sigatoka Disease
Disease name: Sigatoka leaf spot (yellow sigatoka)
Pathogen name: Mycospaerella musicola J. L. Mulder in
J. L. Mulder & R. H. Stover.
It occurs throughout the world and is one of the most
destructive diseases of banana.
It causes losses by reducing the functional leaf surface
of the plant, which results in small,
unevenly ripened bananas that fail to ripen and may
fall. The disease first appears as small,
light yellow spots parallel to the side veins of leaves.
A few days later, the spots become enlarge in size
and turn brown with light gray centers. Such spots soon
enlarge further, the tissue around them turns yellow
and dies and adjacent spots coalesce to form large,
dead areas on the leaf. Rapid drying and defoliation of
mature leaves are the characteristic feature of this
disease.

13. Remedy
Remote Power@ 2-3 gm per lit
Zabardast Plus@ 1-2 gm per lit
Figon@2 gm per lit

14. Anthracnose
It is a serious pre and post harvest disease
caused by Colletotrichum musae.
Infection starts at the distal end of the young
harvested fruits as minute black spots, spreading
slowly to the whole fruit which eventually turns
black and shriveled. It spreads to the other
hands through the stalk affecting the whole
bunch.
On ripening fruits, the symptoms appear as
sunken brownish lesions which get covered by
salmon colored fungal sporulation. Lesions
expand faster and coalesce giving a black
appearance to the fingers.
Control:
Spray bunches twice with Acer -2.5 ml per lit or
Zabardast Plus 2.5 ml per lit at 15 days interval.

15. Insect Pests

16. Banana Rhizome Borer
Cosmopolites sordidus
Most important insect pest of
bananas. The larvae bore in the
corm, reducing nutrient uptake and
weakening the stability of the plant.
Attack in newly planted banana
stands can lead to crop failure.
In established fields, weevil damage
can result in reduced bunch weights,
may die-out and shortened stand
life. Damage and yield losses tend to
increase with time
Control- Srigent Granule @ 5-7 gm
per plant /Furarus@5 gm per
plant/Drenching with Thiamethoxam
@1gm per lit

17. Banana Stem Weevil (Odoiporus
longicollis)
The Pseudostem weevil (Odoiporus longicollis) are normally black coloured ones but red
coloured variants are also found in some areas. The pest breeds and become more active during
summer and monsoon seasons.
Early symptoms of infestation are the presence of small pin-head sized holes on the pseudostem,
fibrous extrusions from bases of the leaf petioles and exudation of a gummy substance from the
holes of the pseudostem.
The weevil larvae are fleshy and yellowish white. Larva bores hole through the pseudostem and
thrives inside. This results in exudation of plant sap followed by dropping of the faecal matter. As
the central core is destroyed due to the boring of the larvae, upward movement of the nutrient is
hampered which ultimately results in poor growth and development of the plants.
If the larva tunnels pseudostem during advanced pre-flowering stage, the ascending flower bud
and peduncles are destroyed resulting in non emergence of the flower bud which decays inside
the pseudostem. This leads to choked throat appearance of bunch and breaking of Pseudostem.
During advanced stages of infestation, we can observe by splitting the stem, the pests' extensive
tunneling both in the leaf sheath and in the rhizome. Rotting occurs due to secondary infection of
other pathogens and foul odour is emitted. When the rhizome and peduncle are tunnelled after
flowering, the fruits do not develop properly, exhibiting a dehydrated condition with premature
ripening of the bunch
Control- Monocrotopos @ 2.5 ml per Lit/Ruscron@ 1 ml + Spine @3 ml per Lit to be applies as
injectable.
Soil Drenching with Spine @2ml per lit in the early crop stge

18. Banana Rust Thrips
Description and life history. The adult thrips is yellow, about 1.3 mm
long, and has narrow fringed wings. Each forewing has two dark areas.
The females lay eggs in the plant tissue, under leaf sheaths and where
fruits touch. These larvae hatch after about a week and are white to
cream and, when fully developed after about another week, are about
the same size and shape as the adults, but have no wings. The mature
larvae enter the soil and form white pupae that look like mature
larvae. Adult thrips emerge from the pupae 7 to 10 days later.
The thrips congregate in colonies on the pseudostems behind the
bases of leaf sheaths, and their feeding there leaves the plant tissue
blood red in colour. They congregate on fruit, mainly where the fruits
touch each other. Both the adults and the larvae feed by puncturing
plant surface cells sucking up the sap. There are many generations per
year but the greatest numbers of thrips occur from November to
March. Although adult thrips can fly, major spread is far more likely by
movement of infested planting material to new areas.

20. Banana Rust Thrips
Damage
Banana rust thrips may infest bunches at any time during their
growth, but infestations that develop when the bunches
emerge cause the most severe damage. Injured areas on
young fruit first appear water soaked, then look discoloured
and grey and later become rust coloured. With further growth
of the fruit cracks may develop in the scarred areas. Injury to
fruit is usually on the sides of fruits that are touching or are
close together, but in severe infestations the whole fruit may
be blemished. Sometimes the fruits split.
Control- Spray of Srigent SC @ 2.5 ml per lit water. Specially
under te fruit and on other point of infestation

21. Banana Silvery Thrips
The adult is about 1.5 mm long, and yellow to
brown with a darker abdomen and pale yellow
hindwings, each with two broad, brownish
bands. On the fruit, adults look dark with a pale
yellow line along the body, formed by the folded
yellow hindwings. The larvae are yellow white,
often with a globule of black excrement at the
tip of the abdomen. The life history is similar to
banana rust thrips

22. Banana Silvery Thrips
The adult is about 1.5 mm long, and yellow to
brown with a darker abdomen and pale yellow
hindwings, each with two broad, brownish
bands. On the fruit, adults look dark with a pale
yellow line along the body, formed by the folded
yellow hindwings. The larvae are yellow white,
often with a globule of black excrement at the
tip of the abdomen. The life history is similar to
banana rust thrips

23. Banana Silvery Thrips
Damage
Fruit is attacked at all stages. The damaged
areas develop a silvery blemish, spotted with
the thrips’ dark excreta. In severe infestations
the blemish may be reddish brown, and deep
longitudinal cracks may develop in the
blemished skin.

24. Banana Aphids
Pentalonia nigronervosa
Small reddish-brown to almost black oval shaped aphids. Aphids have
two characteristic projections from the rear of the abdomen. Colonies
of adult and immature stages are found on the pseudostem (of banana
plants) under the leaf bracts and between the bunch bracts and the
branch stalk. Colonies can also be found in the unfurled top leaves of
young plants and suckers or under leaf bases near ground level.
Winged forms have prominent forewings with dark pigmented veins.
Ants often attend colonies of winged (alates) and wingless (apterous)
aphids. Ants assist in the spread of aphids and feed on the honeydew.
Spread of colonies also results from short or long distance migration of
alates during warm days. Mature females produce live young that
develop into alate or apterous adults depending on weather, aphid
density and host conditions

25. Banana Aphids
Direct feeding damage is uncommon. Damage from
excessive honeydew and the resultant sooty mould
development occurs only rarely and only when
populations build up to high levels.
The greatest potential damage is due to
transmission of bunchy top virus
Control- It is seldom economical to control aphids,
But spray of Srigent SC or Dawn 2000 is useful in
prevent ng spread of BBT Virus