Response of Pomme subgroup of banana cultivars treated with fungicide under subtropical conditions

Abstract

Black and yellow sigatoka, caused respectively by fungi Mycosphaerella fijiensis and M. musicola, are important diseases of banana. Besides necrosis on leaves, these diseases decreases the yield and fruit quality. The main control strategies of these diseases are genetic resistance, cultural methods, fungicides spray. Thus, the objectives of this study were to compare agronomic characteristics of three banana cultivars of Pomme subgroup, sprayed or not with fungicide during the first three cropping cycles. In this way, banana plants of SCS451 Catarina, SCS453 Noninha and SCS454 Carvoeira cultivars were planted in two areas 450m, spaced at 3,0m x 3,0m. The plants were cultivated according to the technical recommendations for the crop, but in just one area sigatoka disease complex were controlled with fungicide (triazole and strobilurin). The experiment was designed in randomized block design with four replications. Each parcel was composed by 15 plants. Plant height, number of functional leaves and hands, finger diameter, bunch weight and reproductive cycle were evaluated. The data were submitted to Anova and the means compared by the Scott-Knott test (5%). Plants sprayed with fungicide had higher number of leaves at flowering and harvest, as well as higher finger diameter and higher reproductive cycle.