Growth and Maturity Studies on Banana

An investigation was carried out to study growth behaviour and maturity index of Basrai banana under Eastern U.P. conditions. The period from appearance of spike till emergence of first hand varied between 5 to 6 days. Further, it took 4 to 5 days for opening of all hands. Total number of hands in each bunch were 8 to 9. The age of the crop ranged from 456 to 480 days. Yield and total number of fingers per bunch ranged from 15.00 to 25.5 kg and 120 to 205 in number, respectively. Length and girth of the fingers ranged from 11 cms. to 23.50 cm. The crop should be harvested after 80 to 95 days from emergence of spike, when the ridges of the fruits had disappeared and fingers were almost rounded in thickness.