Saba Bananas: Very Much In Demand as New Sweetheart of Growers

One crop which is becoming the new sweetheart of growers is the Cardava variety of the Saba banana. There is a rising demand for this particular variety for the manufacture of banana chips worldwide. So if you are interested in an agri-business, take a look at the feasibility of becoming a grower or processor.

When you compare the Saba banana with other fruit crops, it has some unique advantages. It does not require very meticulous and sophisticated maintenance. However, it should be taken care of properly. It demands clean culture and fertilization to produce maximum yield based on the findings about the soil analysis, crop removal and target yield projection. High measure of potassium fertilizer and nitrogen are critical. They are needed up to bud formation. Fertilizer application is done every quarter. Make sure to apply fertilizer when moisture is present or available. Irrigation is also necessary when there is inadequate rain fall. You can use furrow irrigation, drip irrigation and overhead sprinklers. Drainage is necessary for prevention of water logging. You need only little cultivation because of its shallow roots. Sanitation remarkably removes the habitation of insect pests.

Maintain a clean and organized plantation by regularly cutting off dried stalks every 45-60 days. Desuckering or pruning can be done once a month. Leaf pruning is done to reduce the amount of inoculums of leaf diseases and reduce the chance of burning. Old fruit and trunk leaves should also be regularly cut off. Careful and proper plant distancing should be made and only one main trunk should be allowed to develop per hill with one junior sucker. When this procedure is followed, you can expect big bunches of harvests. Control of weeds can be done mechanically and chemically. Slashing, mulching and ring weeding are the effective weed control systems.

Its main problem is the blackening and hardening of the inside of the fruit. The solution is to remove at the right time the banana blossom when the false hand comes out. The gestation period is not that long. You can already start harvesting in 150-180 days after shooting.  Its pseudo stem should be cut back at a height of 1.5m after removing the bunch. The bananas are harvested green at various stages of maturity. Its fruits are categorized as three quarters, full three quarters or full. Aside from the fruit, the banana blossom and leaves are its other income source. So you can go bananas with the money you can make with the Saba Bananas!