Two Ultrasol® Banana formulas were well received by farmers in India

Banana is one of the leading fertigation crops in India. It is an affordable staple food of great socio-economic importance. Currently, a total of 3.3 million hectares in the country are under drip irrigated crops. Banana plantations occupy 0.38 million hectares of this total area. The Grand Naine (G9) banana cultivar is the most popular variety grown in India. It is valued for its characteristic medium plant height (which facilitates harvesting) and high fruit yield.

Banana is a major consumer of fertilizers, especially potassium and nitrogen. Inadequate fertilizer use, deficiencies in emerging nutrients, declining nutrient use efficiency, negative soil nutrient balance and depletion of soil organic matter are the major challenges faced by banana growers in India, which prevent them from earning profitable incomes. Deficiencies of potassium, sulfur, boron and zinc are common in banana growing areas in this country. Fertilizer application with the irrigation system is considered the most effective method of fertilization. A good irrigation system facilitates accurate fertilizer application with precise doses and proper timing, without additional labor costs.

Scientifically designed trials demonstrated that the use of ^Ultrasol® Banana can result in an impressive and consistent 16-18% improvement in fruit yield over common farmer practice. Both scientifically designed trials and farmer field trials showed a consistent increase in fruit yield of 20% (+16 MT/ha) over common farmer practice, which increased net income by 30%. The return on investment was calculated based on the farmer's usual field trials and showed that a yield increase of only 4.7% would justify the investment in ^Ultrasol® Banana I and II.

Figure 1. Field visit and observation of ^Ultrasol® Banana in the state of Maharashtra. From left to right 1. Dr. Yogesh Kadam, Agronomist, CSQM 2. Mr. Jitendra Kumar Singh, Technical and Business Development Manager, CSQM 3. Agr. Eng. M.Sc. Juan Fco. Palma M, Global Market Development Manager, SQM 4. Mr. Neelesh Bhange, Farmer 5. Mr. Mr. Dattatray Fere, Business Development Manager South Asia, SQM 6. Mr. Prabhat Raghuvanshi, Manager, Consumer connect, Coromandel Int. Ltd 7. Mr. Ma-hadev Suvarna, Sr. AV P and Business Director, CSQM 8. Mr. Suji Bhake, Sr. Zonal Director Mar-keting, Maharashtra, Coromandel Int. Ltd.

Understanding the above challenges, SQM Coromandel (CSQM) successfully developed two specific products for banana production in India, which allow stage-specific fertigation: Ultrasol® Banana I (13-12-26) during establishment and vegetative growth and Ultrasol® Banana II (10-5-36) during the reproductive growth stages (Figure 1 and Table 1).

Table 1. Specifications and recommended program used in trials of farmers' standard practice with CSQM formulas in a banana fertigation program. The formulas contain chelated micronutrients: Zn EDTA, Fe EDDHA, Mn EDTA, Cu EDTA. A total of 800 kg / ha of Ultrasol® Banana I and 500 kg / ha of Ultrasol® Banana II is recommended. Calcium is additionally provided by calcium nitrate applications in fertigation. The need for nitrogen can be met by using urea.

A second objective of the trial was to make it easier for the farmer to prepare a balanced nutrient solution: the two ^Ultrasol® formulas reduce the need to handle many different generic formulas as is the case in traditional practice. The farmer benefits from lower labor costs and prevents common mistakes when mixing the nutrient solution.

Launch brochure with ^Ultrasol® Banana I (13-12-26) for establishment and vegetative development and ^Ultrasol® Banana II (10-5-36) for reproductive growth stages.

Figure 3. Ultrasol® Banana (right) improved pseudostem diameter and architecture supporting the development of heavy, high quality bunches.

Figure 4. Ultrasol® Banana (right) improved the root system compared to the farmers' usual practice.

As is customary at CSQM, both categories of trials were conducted: scientifically designed trials and field trials commonly conducted by farmers. Two scientifically designed trials were conducted for product comparison and dose optimization. In addition, six large-scale farmer field trials were conducted to demonstrate product performance in commercial plantations in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka. Finally, field visits were organized to demonstrate the benefits of ^Ultrasol® Banana at the trial locations.

The scientific trials were conducted in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh at c.v. Grand Nain. Advanced farmers following drip fertigation practice were selected for these trials. Their usual practice served as a reference. Three doses of the recommended amount of fertilizer (RDF = 700: 180: 800 kg NPK / ha) with ^Ultrasol® Banana I and II were compared with treatments where only one of these specific ^Ultrasol® Banana stage formulations replaced the farmers' usual practice. They were also compared with the use of generic WS fertilizers from Coromandel Int. Ltd recommended for banana. In this issue of IQ, we only present the results relative to the recommended commercial dosage used in the farmer adoption trials (Table 1).

Figure 5. Benefit of ^Ultrasol® Banana I during vegetative growth. Comparing plant development at 45 days after planting between ^Ultrasol® Banana program (T1 and T4) and farmers' usual practice (T6) in the scientifically designed trial in Maharashtra.

Table 2. Means, standard error and 95% confidence interval (CD 0.05%) in several parameters measured in the two scientifically designed trials. Figures were underlined in those parameters where 100% of the recommended fertilizer dosage was with the specific ^Ultrasol® Banana stage formulation which resulted in statistically significant higher values compared to farmers' usual practice (FP).

Figure 6. ^Ultrasol® Banana (right) improved fruit size, shape, length and uniformity; increased market value with good apical fill and higher quality.

Yield results in both scientific trials in Andhra Pradesh and Maharastra. The program with ^Ultrasol® Banana I and II at 100% of the recommended fertilizer rate increased yield by 16-18% compared to farmers' usual practice. Bars represent 95% confidence intervals of the means.

^Ultrasol® Banana I and II are designed to supply the crop with all nutrients throughout plant development, according to the needs of the crop. In addition to supplying an optimal balance of nutrients, ^Ultrasol® Banana lowers the pH in the root zone, which helps improve the availability of phosphates and certain trace elements, and controls the acidity of the tank mix (buffer solution) used for fertigation.

Table 3. Cost to benefit calculation of CSQM program based on ^Ultrasol® Banana in Banana. Average result of 4 field trials routinely conducted by farmers on banana cultivar Grand Naine (G9) in Andhra Pradesh (AP), Maharashtra (MH) and Karnataka (KA).

Outstanding results

Scientifically designed trials demonstrated that the use of ^Ultrasol® Banana can result in an impressive and consistent 16-18% improvement in fruit yield over farmers' usual practice (Figure 7). This is mainly due to a higher number of hands per bunch, yielding larger fruit (Table 2). The specific ^Ultrasol® Banana stage formulations also improve crop growth parameters such as, pseudostem diameter and leaf number, and an improved root system (Figures 3-6, Table 2).

The higher yield was combined with greater convenience for the grower in preparing the nutrient solution. The use of ^Ultrasol® Banana I and II can reduce the number of water-soluble fertilizer products (between seven to eleven different sources in usual practice: at least urea, calcium nitrate, 19-19-19, MAP, 13-40-13, magnesium sulfate and potassium nitrate) leaving the figure at three products with the CSQM program (^Ultrasol® Banana, urea and calcium nitrate). The crop also benefits from a constant and balanced ratio of nutrients in the root zone, unlike the practice, where the application of different fertilizer products with irrigation which was alternated in different weeks. The usual practice trials showed how higher yields translate into economic benefit for the farmer (Table 3). In the plots using ^Ultrasol® Banana, yields were 20% -29% higher than usual practice and farmers' net income/ha increased by 25-35% when following the CSQM program: the net benefit ranges between 3,200 and 4,000 USD/ha over the four farmers' usual practice trials.

What's next?

^Ultrasol® Banana I & II was launched in India by CSQM in May 2018 and was very well received by the farming community. The product is performing well, and a good volume of sales has already materialized.