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Aplicación de Potasio Mantiene Redimientos Altos aun en Suelos con alto Contenido de este Nutriente
Fertilizer Applications Maintain High Banana Yields Even in Soils with Relatively High Potassium Content
Banana requirements of potassium (K) are very high and potash fertilizer needs to be used every cycle to maintain high productivity. Typical fertilizer recommendations indicate that a minimum of 500 kilograms potash per hectare (kg/ha K2O) is needed when soil K is greater than 0.5 milliequivalents per 100 grams of soil. Many banana soils have a soil K content in that range.
The banana industry has been facing problems during the last year due to the international price of the fruit. In situations like this, producers are forced to find ways to adjust the operation to maintain profits. A common approach is to reduce inputs with the hope that this procedure will not hurt quantity and quality of the fruit. One target is always potash fertilizer under the assumption that banana soils have enough K after several years of fertilizer application. Experience has demonstrated that is a wrong turn but no hard evidence has been accumulated to probe the point until recently.
Independent studies conducted in Ecuador and Costa Rica demonstrated, as expected, that reduction or elimination of fertilizer K application in banana plantations reduces fruit quality and quantity, even in soils with high K content. However, these studies pointed out that another important factor in banana production is affected, and perhaps this factor has equal or more influence on profits than other factors affected. Restrictions in fertilizer application (mainly potash) increases the length of the growing season, and this time increment is very costly to the producer. This is illustrated in the photo and figure presented below.
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Photo of a banana experiment conducted in Ecuador showing an excellent response to fertilizer application. Note the absence of bunches in the check which was planted at the same time as the other treatments.
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This figure summarizing the data of experiments conducted in Costa Rica. The biomass accumulation is significantly lower when fertilizer is not applied to the plant (López 1999*)
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* López, A. 1999. Análisis del crecimiento y determinación de las curvas de absorción de nutrientes en banano (Musa AA, cultivar Gran Enano) en plantas provenientes de cultivo de tejidos. Memoraris del XIII Congreso Latinoamerciano de la Ciencia del Suelo. Pucón, Chile.
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