The Organic
Revival
Fruits · Herbaceous

Growing banana

Musa spp. · also called kelaBanana is a tall tropical herb planted from suckers or tissue-culture plants. It wants warmth, rich moist soil and plenty of water, and fruits about a year after planting, with ratoon crops from the suckers.

Deccan plateau: interior Maharashtra, Telangana, north Karnataka

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A bunch of green bananas hanging from a banana plant, with palm fronds behind
Photo: Dinkum · CC0

At a glance

Banana in the Deccan plateau

  • Season

    Mrig bag planted June to July, kande bag October to November18

  • Sowing to last picking

    Dwarf varieties take 11 to 14 months from planting to harvest and tall varieties 14 to 16 months. Suckers kept from each plant carry on as ratoon crops.9

  • Plant out

    June to July18

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Sow now

The window here is October to November.

Sowing now in:South interior
  • Transplant
  • Harvest
  • Today
  • Not suited here
Deccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluNot suited hereCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiNot suited hereSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratNot suited hereCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Deccan plateauJune to JulyOctober to NovemberFirst week of February
Temperate HimalayaNot suited here
Cold desertNot suited here
Sub-tropical foothillsLate February to early MarchApril to May of the next year
North-west plainsMid-February to early MarchApril to May
Gangetic plainsMay to JuneSeptember to October
North-east hills and valleysMarch to May
Arid westNot suited here
Central plateauMay to JuneSeptember to October
South interiorNovember to DecemberJanuary to FebruaryApril to May
West coastMay to JuneSeptember to October
East coastFebruary to AprilApril to May

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    FYM

    10 kg per plant · Planting

    Neem powder

    1.25 kg per plant · Planting

    Azospirillum and PSB

    50 g each per plant · Planting

    VAM

    25 g per plant · Planting

    Trichoderma harzianum

    50 g per plant · Planting

    Vermicompost

    5 kg per plant · Three months after planting

    Bagasse ash

    1.75 kg per plant · Three months after planting

    Green manure intercrops18

    Three green manure crops in turn, cowpea then dhaincha then cowpea, grown between the rows · Through the crop

Banana here is grown on drip. Where water is short, MPKV recommends drip that replaces 60% of evapotranspiration in months 1 to 5, 70% in months 6 to 8 and 80% in months 9 to 12 after planting, on medium deep black soil. With basin watering near Jalgaon, growers irrigate every 3 to 4 days in hot weather (NHB).11,18

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1,6

    6.5 to 7.5

    Deep (0.5 to 1 m), rich, fertile, well-drained loam that holds moisture and has plenty of organic matter. Alluvial and volcanic soils suit it well. Standing water causes disease, and alkaline or saline soils are to be avoided.

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the Deccan plateau, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    Full sun in open fields. Plants also grow in light shade, as in coconut and arecanut gardens, but bunches are smaller.

  • Temperature6Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

    Grows best at 20 to 35 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the Deccan plateau aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering11,18

Banana here is grown on drip. Where water is short, MPKV recommends drip that replaces 60% of evapotranspiration in months 1 to 5, 70% in months 6 to 8 and 80% in months 9 to 12 after planting, on medium deep black soil. With basin watering near Jalgaon, growers irrigate every 3 to 4 days in hot weather (NHB).

Drip on limited water: 60% of evapotranspiration in months 1 to 5, 70% in months 6 to 8, 80% in months 9 to 12.

Weeding18

Cross hoeing and hand weeding plus two crops of cowpea worked into the soil keep weeds down. Groundnut in the kharif season and cowpea are useful intercrops.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
PlantingFYM10 kg per plant
PlantingNeem powder1.25 kg per plant
PlantingAzospirillum and PSB50 g each per plant
PlantingVAM25 g per plant
PlantingTrichoderma harzianum50 g per plant
Three months after plantingVermicompost5 kg per plant
Three months after plantingBagasse ash1.75 kg per plant
Through the cropGreen manure intercropsThree green manure crops in turn, cowpea then dhaincha then cowpea, grown between the rows

Sources18

Varieties and yield

Typical range9

30 to 40 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here16,18

  • Grand Naine

    MPKV (2014): for medium black soils of Maharashtra.

  • Basrai (Dwarf Cavendish)

    NHB: the leading commercial variety of Maharashtra.

  • Shrimanti

    MPKV (2004): under high inputs.

  • Phule Pride

    MPKV (2018): dwarf and early, for western Maharashtra.

Good neighbours1,8,10

Keep it away from

Pests and diseases13,18,8

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Red rust thrips

    Signs

    Rusty red, rough patches on the skin of the fruit.

    What to do

    • Neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) 5% spray
    • Verticillium lecanii, 3 g per litre of water

  • Pest

    Nematodes

    Signs

    Small dark spots on the roots, then rotting roots. Bunches carry fewer, smaller fruit, and the plants stop responding to feeding or water. Numbers build up in ratoon crops.

    What to do

    • Pare the corms before planting
    • Intercrop with marigold or sunn hemp

  • Pest

    Pseudostem borer

    Signs

    Sap oozes from small holes in the stem with a black mass. The grubs feed inside the stem, and a badly attacked plant dies. Most active in summer and the monsoon.

    What to do

    • Uproot and burn badly attacked plants
    • Keep the plantation clean of dry leaves and old stems

  • Pest

    Rhizome weevil

    Signs

    Grubs tunnel through the corm, which rots. Leaves yellow, wither and die early, and yields fall.

    What to do

    • Clear the debris and rotting stems where the weevils shelter
    • Lay split pieces of old stem or rhizome, 30 to 60 cm long, between the plants as traps and pick off the weevils that gather

    Prevention

    • Plant only suckers from fields known to be clear of the weevil

  • Pest

    Banana aphid

    Signs

    Yellowish-green aphids on the underside of leaves suck sap; parts turn discoloured and misshapen. This aphid spreads bunchy top.

    Prevention

    • Take suckers only from healthy clumps in places without bunchy top
    • Dig out bunchy top plants at once so the aphid has nothing to spread

  • Disease

    Cigar end tip rot

    Signs

    A dry black rot spreads from the flower end into the tips of young fingers and looks like the ash on a cigar.

    What to do

    • Cover bunches with dry banana leaves

  • Disease

    Panama wilt (Fusarium wilt)

    Signs

    Older leaves yellow from the edges, hang down around the stem and wither. A cut stem shows yellow to reddish streaks, darker towards the rhizome. Worst in poor, light, wet or badly drained soil cropped with banana year after year.

    What to do

    • Uproot and burn badly affected plants
    • Put quick lime near the base of the plant and water it in
    • Add Trichoderma viride or Pseudomonas fluorescens to the soil

    Prevention

    • Do not replant banana in badly infected soil for at least 3 to 4 years
    • Use clean planting material and resistant varieties
    • Grow paddy in the rotation, and keep sunflower and sugarcane out of it

  • Disease

    Sigatoka leaf spot

    Signs

    Light yellow spots on the leaves grow into oval dark brown spots with a dead grey centre and a brown ring. Spots join and kill large parts of the leaf. Spreads in rain and dew above about 21°C.

    What to do

    • Improve drainage and keep weeds down
    • Remove diseased suckers

    Prevention

    • Keep the right spacing so the plants stay airy

  • Disease

    Bunchy top

    Signs

    New leaves come narrow, upright, pale and brittle with rolled-up edges, and dark green broken streaks run along the veins and midrib. The plant stays stunted and gives no useful bunch. Dwarf types are very susceptible.

    What to do

    • Dig out and destroy affected plants, their suckers and the whole clump

    Prevention

    • Never take planting material from places where the disease occurs

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed15,18

Commercial bananas are seedless and are raised only from suckers, rhizomes or tissue culture. Take planting material from healthy, high-yielding clumps whose bunches carry at least 10 hands, since banana varies from plant to plant.

When the seed is ready

Choose sword suckers 2 to 4 months old with a well-developed base and narrow, sword-shaped leaves.

In Jalgaon, Basrai rhizomes are lifted after harvest and stored in a cool, dry place for about two months before planting. Pick conical rhizomes of 500 to 750 g and reject flat ones (NHB). MPKV's Jalgaon station found moderately large, straight, non-cylindrical rhizomes of 450 to 750 g the most suitable planting material.

After the last picking18

For a ratoon crop, keep one vigorous sucker per plant three months after the main crop starts flowering. After harvest, strip the leaves but leave the stem of the cut plant standing.

After harvest, cut the stem leaving a stump about 0.6 m tall; it keeps feeding the daughter sucker until it dries. Uproot, chop and burn plants attacked by stem weevil, and keep them out of manure pits.

Rotation

Do not replant banana in soil badly infected with wilt for 3 to 4 years. Grow paddy in the rotation, and keep sunflower and sugarcane out of it.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 1Banana: crop production guideTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  2. 10Banana: intercultural operationsNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  3. 11Banana: irrigationNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  4. 12Banana: manuring and fertilisationNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  5. 13Banana: pestsNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  6. 14Banana: plantingNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  7. 15Banana: propagationNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  8. 16Banana: varietiesNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  9. 18AICRP on Banana, Banana Research Station Jalgaon: major recommendationsMahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, RahuriRead the source
  10. 6Banana: soil and climateNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  11. 7Banana: area under cultivationNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  12. 8Banana: diseasesNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
  13. 9Banana: harvestingNational Horticulture BoardRead the source

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