EVALUATION OF THE THREE PLANTAIN (MUSA AAB) CULTIVARS FOR AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS

Plantains (Musa AAB) are widely used as a source of carbohydrate in Latin America and Africa. The most commonly grown plantain cultivar, "Horn plantain" is tall which makes it susceptible to losses by wind. Recently, two dwarf mutants of "Horn plantain" were selected. A randomized complete block design experiment with four replications was conducted to compare the agronomic characteristics of the dwarf mutants with those of the traditional cultivar. The data was analyzed as if the experiment was strip-plot design with cultivar as the horizontal factor and harvest as the vertical factor. "Analysis of variance" and "Least significant difference" test were used for data analysis. The results indicated that one of the mutants produces a heavier fruit bunch than the tall cultivar and also meets the finger length and finger caliper specifications for export purposes.