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Intermat and intramat competition in banana studied using 32P

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2006

Sajan Kurien
Affiliation:
RARS, Kerala Agricultural University, Kumarakom, PO 686 566, Kottayam, Kerala State, India
Paickattumana Suresh Kumar
Affiliation:
College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, PO 680 656, India
Nerukavil Varieth Kamalam
Affiliation:
College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, PO 680 656, India
Pallacken Abdul Wahid
Affiliation:
College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, PO 680 656, India
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Abstract

Introduction. Competition between plants on a mat (intramat) and between plants on different clumps (intermat) is quite common in crops such as banana. A study was therefore undertaken to know the extent of intramat and intermat competition using isotopic techniques. Materials and methods. The competition between plants in a mat and between mats were recorded in a combination of three spacings and five physiological phases of sucker retention by giving 32P to an experimental plant using soil injection techniques and monitoring the levels of recovery. The recovery of the isotope was recorded in the applied plant and its daughter (intramat) and in the neighboring border plant and its sucker (intermat). Results. The study revealed that, when 32P was given by soil injection techniques to one plant, it could be recovered in the border plant and its sucker during both years of study. In the first year, activity in initial samplings in border clumps were the highest, with the widest spacing in the experimental plant showing the highest recovery, but a differential pattern of recovery was observed at different samplings in the border clumps. In the irrigated crop of the second year, the highest recovery was observed at the closest spacing in both the experimental and border clumps. With respect to sucker retention at definite physiological phases, the recovery was the highest at the late vegetative phase, the flower bud initiation and the shooting phase. The recovery in the mother plant and its sucker and the border plant and its sucker studied separately gave a measurement of the intramat competition. Conclusion. The differential nature seen with retention phases confirms the requirement and intensity of activity with defined physiological phases and the overall need to evaluate and redefine recommendations, taking into consideration the critical physiological phases.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© CIRAD, EDP Sciences, 2006

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