Introduction:

Banana (Musa paradisiaca L.) occupies mainly in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar.

Climate and soils:

It is a moisture and heat loving plant and cannot tolerate frost or arid conditions. Though some inferior types of banana are found growing as far north as the Himalayas, its commercial importance is mainly limited to the more tropical conditions such as those prevailing in central, southern and north eastern India.
It requires a rich, well drained soil with plentiful organic matter. The soil should be well drained and at least three feet deep. It also goes on well drained clay soils, irrigated medium black soil and light coastal soils. Salinity above 0.05% is injurious and the calcareous soils are too poor for banana.

Varieties::

Propagation

Propagation is by suckers or off shoots. Each sucker should have a piece of underground stem with a few roots attached to it. Banana suckers can be planted throughout the year in southern India, excepts during summer, whereas in the rest of the country, the rainy season is preferred. They are planted in small pits, each just enough to accommodate the base of a sucker. The planting distance varies from 2mx2m in the case of dwarf varieties to 4mx4m in the case of very tall varieties.

Fertilizer :

An application of 20-25kg of farmyard manure together with about 5kg of wood ash per plant is given at planting time. A complete fertilizer mixture may be applied to supply 100-200kg of nitrogen, 100-200kg of phosphorus and 200-400kg potash per hectare. A green manure crop is also considered beneficial.

Irrigation:

Plant protection:

Pests

Root stock weevil 
The rhizomes, tunneling the rootstock and travel upwards; adults hide in leaf sheaths or near suckers on which they feed; the maximum activity of the pest is observed during April to October.
Controls
Select healthy rhizomes for planting. Treat pits with 5% Aldrin or Heptachlor dust @ 60-70g per pit; in case of attack, spray 0.03% Phosphamidon or 0.05% Fenitrothion around the base of plant/clumps. 

Stem borers
Grubs bore into the stem and kill the plant; active during summer and monsoon months.
Control
Uproot and burn infested plants; spray 0.04% Endosulfan or 0.1% Carbaryl

Banana beetle
Adults feed on tender leaves and fruits and remain hidden under unfolded leaves.
Control
Clean cultivation and spraying as for stem-borer

Disease

Black finger
Raised lesions appear on fingers.
Control
Remove affected fingers; spray with 1% Bordeaux mixture.

Panama wilt
Progressive browning and falling of leaves; black streaks on under-ground stems.
Control
Eradicate affected plants use disease free suckers practise crop rotation.

Bunchy top
The leaves become short and narrow and are bunched together at the top of the pseudo stem to form a rosette.
Control
Use virus-free suckers rogue out infected plants.

Harvesting and Storage:

Early varieties commence flowering in southern and western India about seven months after planting and the fruits take about three months more to ripen. In the Andhra Pradesh delta areas, the fruits are ready for harvesting about seven to eight. Months after planting. The bunch is harvested just before it attains the ripening stage. When the fruits have reached the full size, they become plump, and mature with a distinct change in colour. For long transport, the bunch may be harvested somewhat earlier. The bunch is cut retaining about 15cm of the stem above the first hand.  The yield varies considerably from 26,000-55,000kg per ha.
 Ripening 
The ripening of banana is done in several ways e.g exposing the bunches to the sun, placing them over a hearth, wrapping them up In green leave and piling them in a heap, storing them in closed godowns or smoking them in various ways. One of the common ways is to heap the fruits in a room and cover them with leaves, after which fire is lit in a corner and the room is closed and mad ease air-tight as possible. Ripening takes place usually in 30-48 hours. In a cool store, the bunches ripen well at about 15 to 20oC. The application of Vaseline a layer of clay or coal-tar to the cutends of the stalks prevents rotting during ripening and storage. Wrapping up the fruits and packing them in crates help to reduce the damage during transport.