Conventionally banana propagation is by suckers or rhizomes. But in recent years, the tissue culture plants are becoming more popular.
Sucker selected from pest and disease free plantations give good yield. Furthermore, tissue culture plants have no special capacity to give extra ordinary yield. Sward suckers are selected for planting and they originate from the bottom of the rhizome of the mother plant. It grows healthy and fruiting is fast. The water sucker type is not suitable and grows slow whereas flowering is late. Cutting off the stem and planting the rhizome part of the suckers gives out a strong and healthy sprout.
Suckers separation
It is difficult to get healthy sucker of the required variety in large numbers. Separating suckers from the cropping plant affects the yield and pests and diseases may enter through the wound. Its important to take out the suckers only after the harvest of the crop.
Panama wilt and bunchy top diseases, rhizome weevil and nematodes spread with the sucker hence select the sucker if only and only if the plantation is free of all these problems.
Tissue culture
Most of tissue culture laboratories multiply only cavendish varieties. Because of the problem of variation in the characters, tissue culture multiplication in Yalakki and many other varieties are not yet successful commercially.
The rhizome costs around 3-5 rupees while ready to plant tissue culture plant costs 12-15 rupees.
