Local techniques for growing plantain
Growing plantain with local techniques
The Musa paradisiaca which is the common plantain is used for food in Nigeria. Plantain make a lot of rich deshes ranging from fried ripe plantain called dodo to porridge plantain prepared from the unriped plantain.
The plantain itself is classified among giant herbs that has rhizome roots system. With some species being short while others can grow up to 10 to 33 feet in hight. While most plantain are known to produce a single bunch of plantain, there is a rear specie here in Nigeria that supriseingly produces two healthy bunch of plantain.
Croping
Most farms that grow plantain in Nigeria grow them from it's soccer. Once a good specie is observed, it's soccer is nipped off and used as seedlings.
Soil preparation
The hole is dugged and maniutred in preparation for the soccer. The dept of the prepared hole is one and a half feet filled with a manure mainly made up of dripping and saw dust from a poultry house.
The soccer is planted in this shallow dept with a planting distance of 4 to 6 feet between them. The growth process takes around 8 to 9 months to harvest and between that time, you will have to care for the crop.
Managing the plantain
Due to the shallow dept of it's rooting system, plantains are affected by strong winds which either push them down or split it's leaves. It's also important to keep the plant watered, plantain do not grow well when dehydrated.
To help the plantain produce better, we add wood Ash to it's base as a form of manure. If it happens to have plenty of soccer around the base, we prune off some excess soccers so they don't use up the available nutrients starving the mother plant.
Harvesting the plantain
When the fruit is ready for harvesting, the bunch is cut out and the mother plant is cut to the ground allowing the other shoots from the rhizome to grow up.
Economic value of Plantain
A bunch of plantain is sold around 8 to 10 steem. locally, plantain is prescribed as food for the diabetics, it is also processed into a flour and used in breaking of bread. Plantain flour is also used on making a type of couscous.
Good teaching @udyliciouz! All these point elucidated are good points which would help plantain farmers. My pleasure 😃 sharing with us.
Good and improved method of growing plantain. I really found this techniques to be helpful for plantain farmers. Thanks for this great and wonderful teachings.
Banana is one of my favorite fruits. It also has numerous benefits for our stems. It is a complete source of potassium. Bananas are grown abundantly in Antalya. I didn't know how he was raised, your writing is very enlightening about it, thank you.🌈🙏🤗
Dear friend @udyliciouz receive a big greeting from me my name is @jeanglou from Venezuela I am writing to encourage you to continue publishing quality content, I want to tell you that in my country this banana plant grows very easily, especially in land with a lot of water and moderate sunlight.
It is an excellent crop and it seems to me that it is very versatile for the preparation of various dishes. We Venezuelans consume a lot of bananas, but also bananas, they are excellent plantations that contribute to the well-being of those who consume them.
Greetings God bless you.