Page 33 - Agriculture Form Two

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

Planting/transplanting

The sucker is placed in the planting hole, and its corm is covered first with the
topsoil and then the subsoil. For tissue culture planting material, transplanting
should be performed when tissue culture seedlings are approximately 30 cm
tall and have developed at least five healthy leaves. For proper anchorage, each
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sucker or seedling should be planted 30 cm deep in the centre of a planting
hole. Remove the polythene bag carefully (for tissue culture seedlings). Cover
the roots with soil and ensure the plant is upright and firm. After transplanting
banana seedlings, apply a thick layer of mulch around each plant to conserve soil
moisture. In rain-fed conditions, planting should be done at the start of the rainy
season. However, if irrigation is available, planting can be done year-round.

Activity 2.3

1. Visit your school farm and nearby banana fields and perform the following
tasks:
(a) Select a suitable area in the school farm and prepare a hole for
planting banana suckers according to the recommendations;
(b) Identify different types of banana suckers;
(c) Select a suitable banana sucker that can be used as a planting material;
(d) Prepare the holes as per the recommended spacing; then,
(e) Plant the selected suckers and manage them.
2. In your portfolio design a form specifying the types of records/information
you will need to keep in the production of banana from planning to
marketing of the crop produce/ products.

Exercise 2.1

1. Explain why farmers are advised to use clean and certified banana planting
materials.
2. Why should the polythene bags be removed from tissue culture banana
seedlings during transplanting?
3. Explain how you can reduce moisture stress in transplanted banana seedlings.

4. Not all banana suckers are suitable for planting. Discuss.

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04/10/2024 18:07
Agriculture form 2.indd 25 04/10/2024 18:07
Agriculture form 2.indd 25