Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

466 Les productions bananières / Bananas and food security – Session 2
or 9.1%) after Kluai Hom Thong (AAA) (115,020 tons/year, or 8.6%) and Kluai Nam Wa
(ABB) (1,095,475, or 82.3%) (DOAE 1995a). This region is the major production area of
Kluai Khai in Thailand. Especially in Khamphaeng Phet Province, most of the fruit are
marketed locally during the Buddhist Lent Festival from July to September. The Sart
Thai Kluai Khai Festival in Khamphaeng Phet is a traditional annual fair in the tenth
month of lunar year. Kluai Khai is consumed with Krayasat (cereal cooked with honey
and sugar) (Polawat and Chuankul 1997). The production and management of Kluai Khai
is poorly run by smallholders, average farm size being about 1 hectare. After the 7 th
National Agricultural Development Plan, the Ministry of Agriculture launched the
Agricultural Restructuring Scheme, whose objective is to improve agriculture, making it
sustainable and more competitive. The Kluai Khai grower group was supported to
produce higher quality bananas for domestic and export markets. The government gave
grants and technological support to the farmer. However, traditional banana growing in
this region is in homestead or backyard cultivation. This study has been conducted on
production improvement and management during 1995-1997 which is granted by the
National Research Council of Thailand.
The regional geographical information
This study identified the growing areas as four agro-ecological zones in this region at latitude
15-17° N and longitude 97.5-101.5° E.
(I) The northern highland and mountainous zone in Uttaradit.
(II) The northern plain zone including Phichit, Phetchabun, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai,
Nakhon Sawan and Khamphaeng Phet.
(III) The southern plain zone in Uthaithani.
(IV) The western highland zone in Tak.
The relative humidity varies from 38 to 95%, being below 50% from December to
April. The average irradiation is about 470 cal/cm 2 /day. There are four main rivers,
namely Ping, Wang, Yom and Nan, which flow through this region. The major soil types
are Fluvents, Aquepts, Tropepts, Ustolls, Aqualfs, Ustualfs, Ustualfs, Aquructs and
Ustults. The pattern of temperature, rainfall and water requirements are shown in
Figures 1-3. The general land use pattern of the region is shown in Table 1.
Agronomic information for Kluai Khai
on agricultural extension and
its adoption by farmers
Variety: The synonym of Kluai Khai (Khamphaeng Phet) is Pisang Mas. The two clones
are the black spot stem and the brown spot stem.
Spacing: Normally 4.0 x 4.0 m. and 2.0 x 2.0 m. for the windy area.
Planting time: August-October.