Growth and Production Study of Six Plantain (Musa spp) Cultivars under the Ecological Conditions of Kindu, Maniema Province, DR Congo
Abstract
To contribute to a better knowledge of six plantain (Musa spp.) cultivars, the most widely grown and collected in five territories of Maniema province, a growth and production study was carried out at the experimental site of Kindu University. Growth and production parameters were evaluated using two well-decomposed organic fertilizers (sawdust and rice husks) compared to the control (no fertilizer). The experiment was conducted in a split plot set up at Lwama 1, in the concession of the University of Kindu. The type of fertiliser was the primary factor with three levels and the cultivar was the secondary factor with six levels, making eighteen treatments each repeated ten times. The observations made during this investigation focused on crown diameter (cm), pseudo-trunk height (m) and leaf area (cm2) as growth parameters on the one hand, and on the other hand, finger length, number of hands per diet, number of fingers per hand, finger circumference and diet weight as production parameters. The results obtained showed that the growth parameters varied with fertiliser and cultivar. The set of cultivars ranked in descending order as follows: C6 (Otangala); C1 (Kyankola); C5 (Kambelekete); C4 (Mbonjilo); C2 (Mbudi 1) and C3 (Mbudi 2). The analyses of variance carried out on the growth parameters showed that there were very highly significant differences between fertilisers but no significant differences between cultivars. As for the production parameters, they varied between fertilisers and cultivars; sawdust was the best fertiliser for all production parameters studied compared to rice husks and the control. Analyses of variance revealed that there were no significant differences between fertilisers, while there were very highly significant differences between cultivars. Because of their simplicity and low cost, both substrates can be recommended to farmers.
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