TISSUE CULTURE WILLIAMS BANANA PLANT

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Williams Banana is one of the most commonly cultivated commercial bananas, especially in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. It is a slender, medium tall plant bearing dark green fruits that turn golden yellow with highly fragrant, tasty, powdery, and firm fruits. The plants bearing the fruits are smaller with prominent beaks packed closely around the axis having a windblown appearance. Unripe fruits turn bright yellow upon ripening. The pulp of the fruit is ivory white in color. It is special for long transportation. The skin is usually thin but the flesh is sweet. It is capable of producing 10-14 hands and 12-15 fingers consisting of 100-150 fruits per plant. Matured height of the Yelakki Banana is 12 - 14 feet. The length of the fruit is 4-5’’. 

Land with good drainage facilities can be chosen for the cultivation of banana saplings. Red soil and other moderate soil with less sand proportion will be suitable for banana plants. The pH of the soil should be neutral or between 5.5 -7.5. Thus, the soil should be subjected to the soil test in a suitable laboratory or government based horticulture labs to confirm the pH of the soil. If the soil is more acidic, it is to be neutralized using the gypsum and if the soil is more basic, neutralize it with Dolomite. This neutralization is very important to make the soil suitable for cultivation. 

Tissue cultured plants are not season dependent. They can be planted in the soil throughout the year. The Major difference between the normal and the tissue cultured plants is that Tissue cultured plants will have twice the number of roots that are present in the normal plants. This unique property gives the plant strength and good nutrient-absorbing capacity thus giving a good yield of an average of 15 – 21 kg/ bunch.