Bananas are a very important crop in Africa contributing to both food and cash needs of the region. Improving on their yield increases on food security and also house hold income levels.
Bananas can be grown up to harvesting without applying fertilizers. This is the thinking of most people but incase you need to have strong and health bananas that will be able to give good yield and also be able to resist disease, you need to apply fertilizers. To apply fertilizers, top dress with compost and NPK every 6 months. In the early sages of the banana development, bananas need more nitrogen but in the later stages when bunches begin to form, they need more supply of Phosphorous and potassium.
Other management practices
Leaf pruning/ trimming. Cut off all the old dry leaves and leave the new green leaves. The more clean you keep the plant, the more energy the plant has to make the fruit. The other cause of yellowing is sigatoka disease and to control them, cut off the tips of leaves that have turned brown.
Removal of other banana suckers. When you plant your bananas, it keeps on bringing suckers; remove others and remain with only three health bananas per stool ie son, father and grand father.
Removing banana fingers. Remove all banana fingers on the bottom hand of each bunch and leave only one finger. This enables you end up with much more weight and quality bananas. Cut the fingers before they begin straightening during growth.
