Sajan KurienAncy, T KKAU2020-10-212020-10-211997171311https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810153549PGThe experiment entitled "Bunch stalk feeding of urea in banana Musa (AAB group) "Nendran'" was carried out at the Department of Pomology and Floriculture, Vellanikkara during the period of 1996 June to 1997 June with five preliminary and two main experiments. The major objectives of this research was to study the effect of bunch management practices like male bud pruning and urea feeding in banana on yield and quality attributes and also the metabolism of urea in the fruit. The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomised Design with two replications. The preliminary experiments had undoubtedly, proved the fact that, pruning the male bud at a distance of 20 cm from the last hand improve the bunch characters and yield. Urea feeding through the cut and of bunch stalk also had its impact on getting maximum return with minimum inputs. Placement of an optimum dose of 30g urea at the cut stalk end, 3 weeks after the complete emergence of the bunch by adopting the flat cut method increased yields. A higher dose, greater than 50g resulted in negative effects on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the bunch as well as fingers. The main experiments on bunch stalk feeding, also reinforced the superiority of 30g placements at 2nd and 4th week after the emergence of bunch, after female phase recording an yield increment of 4.4 kg over the control. Urea spray, with a spray volume of 250 ml, at 5% concentration, 2 times on a bunch i.e., 3rd and 5th week and also at 3rd and 4th week recorded an yield increment of 3-3.5 kg, compared to the control. Higher doses and more frequency of urea spray resulted in a retearding effect on bunch development. Bunch feeding with urea did not reduce the quality significantly. But a slight increase in acidity and reduction in sugar content and TSS were noticed. The urease activity and molecular absorption of urea studies, to a great extent explain the metabolism of urea feeding in banana fruits. However, the rapidly expanding direct application of urea as a fertilizer and results generated in the study points to a re-evaluation of the existing methods, the role of this compound and the manner of its application and assimilation.EnglishThesis