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Effect of Foliar Fertiliser on Banana

Noor Asma' Mohd Anuar Mushoddad, Nurul Syaza Abdul Latif and Suhaimi Othman@Osman

Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 41, Issue 2, May 2018

Published: 31 May 2018

An experiment was conducted at Bukit Perawas Ayer Lanas, Jeli Kelantan from December 2014 to April 2015 to study the effect of different rates of foliar fertiliser at vegetative stage for banana cultivation. Four levels of foliar fertiliser (0 ml L-1 [control], 1 ml L-1, 2 ml L-1 and 3 ml L-1) were applied monthly throughout the experimental period. Inorganic foliar fertiliser formulation HI-NKTM, a product of ACM Sdn. Bhd, was used. It consisted of 16:8:16 of NPK and a few trace elements Fe, Mn, Mo, Cu, Zn, B and Mo. Data on growth parameters such as pseudostem height, pseudostem girth and leaf area were recorded for the first 16 weeks of planting. A logistic growth model was used to predict the response of the banana plant to foliar fertiliser (from the 16th week to the 24th week of planting). The highest vegetative growth (pseudostem height, pseudostem girth and leaf area) was yielded by the treatment that used foliar fertiliser was applied at 1 ml L-1. The earliest results of plant growth response for treatment A, B and C could be seen in the second week of planting. The treatments followed the logistic growth curve in R2 ranging from 0.92 to 0.96. The pseudostem height, pseudostem girth and leaf area of the banana plants applied with 1 ml L-1 at the 16th week of planting were 59.87 cm, 20.53 cm and 1718.28 cm2, respectively. The prediction showed the maximum pseudostem height, pseudostem girth and leaf area at the 24th week of planting at the rate of 1 ml L-1 were 59.3 cm, 19.91 cm and 1785.17 cm2, respectively.