Maintaining 2-3 suckers on your banana stool or mat ensures succession and reduces competition. Additionally, it improves yield and promotes field sanitation. It is common practice to cut and drop pruned leaves, suckers, and old stems in the field. Burning biomass is also encouraged to reduce pest and disease infestations. The nutrients trapped in this unwanted biomass can be easily recovered through composting.
Earthworms can readily convert banana biomass into biofertilizer. Banana suckers will supply moisture, fiber, potassium and other minerals to the vermicompost system.
The suckers can be prepared by simply chopping them into smaller pieces to stimulate rapid decomposition. Incorporating other vegetable scraps and manure or compost can improve microbial diversity and palatability for earthworms.
Allow to pre-compost for 5-7 days, while aerating every 3 days prior to feeding.
Key take aways:
- Banana biomass can be recycled through vermicomposting
- Pre-composting with other organic materials improves earthworm response
Check out these interesting articles for improved knowledge on the biofertilizer potential of the banana pseudo stem.
Foliar application of enriched banana pseudo stem-sap
Kasim et al. 2023.
Nutrient Content Analysis of Banana Stem Compost as anOrganic Fertilizer
Chan et al. 2024.
Have you ever tried composting banana waste?
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