The banana selection J.D. Special has longer fruit and heavier bunches than cv. Williams but bunch losses are also increased

Abstract

Summary. Yield and plant characteristics of the longer fingered selection ‘J.D. Special’ were compared with cv. Williams which is the industry standard. Data from 2 sources (‘experiments’), including on-farm trials at 6 sites in Queensland, Australia, (experiment 1) and an experiment at the Queensland Department of Primary Industries South Johnstone Research Station investigating maturity bronzing (experiment 2), were utilised for this report.

The fruit on hands 2 or 3 of J.D. Special were on average 10–15% longer in the crops investigated. Increased finger length occurred along the entire bunch resulting in 15 and 6% more extra large fruit for J.D. Special than for Williams in the plant crops of experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Similar differences were observed in the ratoon crops.

Bunches of J.D. Special were 19–22% heavier than Williams for plant crops. A combination of greater fruit length and more hands per bunch in J.D. Special contributed to their greater bunch weight. J.D. Special took longer from planting to harvest (average of 17days) but yields/unit time were still 17–19% greater than Williams.

Plants of J.D. Special were more prone to bunch losses with 2 cases of 35 and 45% loss compared with no losses for Williams, the losses being largely due to wind damage. This susceptibility of J.D. Special is presumably due to its greater plant height and heavier bunch weight. Fruit greenlife of J.D. Special was 17% less than Williams in the one crop investigated, although this was not significant (P>0.10).