Benefits of bagging banana fruit and key points of bagging technique
Banana is a plant of the genus Musa in the family Musaceae, and also refers to its fruit; it is widely cultivated in tropical regions. The plant dies after fruiting, and each sucker can live for many years.So why should banana fruit be bagged? What are the benefits? How is bagging done? What are the techniques?
Why should banana fruit be bagged? What are the benefits?
Benefits of bagging banana fruit:
1. Prevents pests and diseases such as black spot disease and flower thrips;
2. Avoids mechanical rubbing damage to the fruit, promotes fruit growth and development, and increases yield and quality;
3. Reduces pesticide use, meeting the requirements for pollution-free green fruit products.
4. Bagging banana fruit in summer prevents pests and diseases, blocks sunlight, and prevents direct ultraviolet radiation, because sunburn on bananas causes black spots, black skin, scorched skin and similar problems.
5. Bagging banana fruit in winter not only prevents pests and diseases but also provides cold protection and insulation. Bagging banana fruit not only improves the appearance of the fruit, ensuring the banana peel is clean and attractive, but also promotes fruit growth and development, makes the fruit uniform in size, raises the grade and quality of the bananas, and enables them to reach the market earlier.
How is banana fruit bagged? What are the techniques?
1. Bagging time. Bananas are generally best bagged after the male bud is removed, when the fingers curve upward and the peel begins to turn green. If bagged too early, young fruit are affected by many pests and diseases that are difficult to control by spraying, and it also affects the upward curving of the fingers, which is not conducive to forming an attractive comb shape and results in a poor market appearance. If bagged too late, the goals of sun protection, rain protection, insect protection, disease protection and cold protection for the fruit cannot be achieved.
2. Tidying the bunch and pest and disease control before bagging. Before bagging bananas, the bunch must be tidied and pests and diseases controlled. Tidying the bunch means determining the number of hands on the bunch when the male bud is removed and carrying out appropriate fruit thinning between removal of the male bud and the upward curving of the fingers. The growth and development of the banana bunch are limited by water and temperature conditions, so the number of hands and fruits should not be too many and should be determined by variety and plant vigor. After removal of the male bud, overly dense and irregular fingers should be thinned promptly; double fruits and three-tier fruits on the bunch should be removed, and when the last hand has fewer than 10 fingers it should be thinned out; for a bunch with 9 hands but fewer than 10, 2 hands should be removed leaving 8 hands, and for one with 11 hands but fewer than 12, 2 hands should be removed leaving 10 hands, and 1-2 small fruits should be left on the last hand to favor nutrient supply to the bananas, prevent the bunch stalk from drying up, and ensure the fruit grows evenly with a full, neat and attractive shape.
Young banana fruit are easily attacked by pests and diseases, so pesticides are sprayed before bagging to control them. Usually two sprays are applied before bagging. The first is applied immediately when the male bud is removed, using 30% Amistar at 1500 times dilution plus 10% imidacloprid wettable powder at 2000 times dilution, or 25% Score at 2000 times dilution plus 10% fenpropathrin emulsifiable concentrate at 2000 times dilution, sprayed evenly over the banana plant and the bud to control the sources of anthracnose, black spot disease and crown rot. The second is applied when the fingers curve upward and the peel turns green, choosing a sunny morning, using 2.5% Kung Fu (lambda-cyhalothrin) emulsifiable concentrate at 3000 times dilution plus 30% Amistar Top suspension concentrate at 1500 times dilution, or 10% high-efficiency permethrin emulsifiable concentrate at 2000 times dilution plus 30% Amistar Top suspension concentrate at 1500 times dilution, sprayed evenly once over the banana fruit; a nutrient agent (such as Greenfert, Humax, monopotassium phosphate, etc.) may also be added to the spray to strengthen the fruit, and once the spray liquid on the fruit surface has dried, bagging can be done.
3. Bagging operation. Banana fruit bagging is done 7-10 days after the male bud is removed, when the banana fingers curve upward and the peel turns green; the final spray is applied, and once the liquid has dried, a double-layer bag of pearl cotton film can be used to cover the bunch. For bagging, choose a two-ended blue film bag with an outer layer 140-160 cm long and 90 cm wide and an inner pearl cotton bag 120-140 cm long and 90 cm wide, using the double-layer bag to cover the fruit. Before bagging, first place the pearl cotton bag inside the blue film bag, then open the bag mouth and, aiming at the bunch, insert the entire bunch from bottom to top, then tie the upper part tightly around the bunch stalk with rope to prevent rainwater from flowing into the bag. Handle the bag gently during bagging to avoid friction between the bag and the fruit damaging the fruit. When bagging from June to August, 4 symmetrical sets of 8 small holes should be opened in the upper-middle part of the bag before bagging, to better allow ventilation and air movement inside the bag. After September, no small holes need to be opened for bagging; before a cold wave arrives, the lower outer film of the bag can be tied tightly, and then a small bamboo tube placed in the middle of the tie to help drain accumulated water.
4. Management after bagging. After bagging, the condition of the fingers should be checked frequently and problems dealt with promptly; if excessive humidity is found, the bag must be opened for ventilation and tied back properly once the moisture has dried. If pests or diseases are found, pesticides should be sprayed promptly for control, and the bag tied back properly once the liquid has dried.