Model for determining nutritional and non-nutritional limitations of Grande Naine banana in the Brazilian semiarid region

Abstract

ABSTRACT Plant nutrition is essential in attaining higher yields; however, non-nutritional factors play a major role in limiting crop yield. This study aimed to model and determined nutritional and non-nutritional limitations of Grande Naine banana grown in Ceará and Bahia states, Brazil, based on nutritional balance and equilibrium. The data used in this study were collected between 2010 and 2017 from two farms, located in Missão Velha, Ceará (7° 35’ 90” S and 39° 21’ 17” W, and 442 m of altitude), and Ponto Novo, Bahia (10º 51’ 46” S and 40º 08’ 01” W, and 342 m of altitude). Plots with yields greater than the average plus 0.5 standard deviations were defined as high-yielding populations (HYP) and used as a reference population to establish the norms. Plots with yields below this limit, low-yielding populations (LYP), were used for nutritional diagnosis. The database was divided into four. The first and second databases, from the area located in Missão Velha, contained 46 samples from a reference population with a yield greater than 58.84 t ha-1 per year, and 104 samples from an LYP, respectively. The third and four databases, from the area located in Ponto Novo, contained 19 samples from a reference population with a yield greater than 76.12 t ha-1 per year, and 46 samples from an LYP, respectively. Nutritional factors limited Grande Naine banana yield in Ceará and Bahia by 11.17 and 14.79%, while non-nutritional factors limited by 30.11 and 29.41%, respectively. In Grande Naine banana, non-nutritional factors are more yield-limiting than nutritional factors.