Differences Between the Banana Variety Tai Jiao No. 5 and Bei Jiao and a Comparison of Their Disease Resistance
"Tai Jiao No. 5" is commonly known as "Yushan" and belongs to the same line as "Bei Jiao"; it is a descendant in the great-grandchild generation of "Bei Jiao", selected from Tai Jiao No. 3, the 3rd generation of "Bei Jiao". In appearance, the grandparent and grandchild are extremely similar: newly planted plants are about 250-280 cm tall, with a pseudostem circumference of 69-72 cm, varying with the season, and each bunch of fruit weighs about 20-35 kg. Winter bananas (harvested from mid-January to mid-March) are lighter, while summer bananas (mid-June to late September) and some autumn bananas (after early October to mid-January) are heavier.
In Taiwan, China's main banana-producing areas, banana plants can be planted in any month of the year and are harvested about 11–13 months later, while in the central mountainous areas this can take as long as 15 months. "Bei Jiao" has wide adaptability but is not resistant to banana yellow leaf disease, so it is mostly planted on new land or in paddy fields after 2 or 3 years of crop rotation, which can reduce the disease rate.
"Tai Jiao No. 5", however, has moderate resistance to yellow leaf disease and can be planted in a wider range of areas. Because the two are extremely similar in appearance and growth characteristics, their nutrient requirements are also very similar. The amount of nutrients taken up by a banana plant grown for 1 year, expressed as fertilizer components, is about 150 g of nitrogen (N), 40 g of phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5), and 560 g of potassium oxide (K2O). Apart from plant nutrients applied to banana orchard soil being lost through leaching, volatilization, fixation, and the removal of harvested fruit bunches, most of the remaining plant residues stay in the orchard and return to it in the form of organic matter, where they can be decomposed and reused by the next crop, so the actual amount of the three major elements that needs to be supplemented in a banana orchard each year is not large.
