Bananas and Food Security - Bioversity International

776 Les productions bananières / Bananas and food security – Session 4
intensive banana-based farming system for location-specific situations needs to be
evolved. It is noted by the author and others (1989c) that paired-row planting of banana
facilitates intercropping.
As a intercrop
As an intercrop, bananas are grown extensively in perennial gardens like coconut,
arecanut and pepper (Aravindakshan 1978). Suitability of the crop for ratooning and the
availability of shade-tolerant clones that perform satisfactorily in a wide range of
conditions are favourable factors. Under the rainfed cultivation of tree crops, bananas
are preferred by farmers as the most acceptable intercrop.
F u r t h e r, banana is often grown as a shade/nurse crop in the early stages of
establishing coconut, arecanut, coffee, pepper, cocoa, rubber, nutmeg and clove plantations.
As such, banana could well be considered as a good companion crop for quite a
large number of major commercial crops. Extensive studies in different regions are to be
undertaken seriously to exploit the enormous potential of banana as an efficient
intercrop as well as a shade/nurse crop.
Relay cropping
A system of relay cropping is in vogue in the Malappuram district of Kerala where
Nendran is cultivated in rice fields (Figure 3). Usually, after the harvest of the first crop
(Virippu) of rice, the field is prepared for the second crop (Mundakan). Then small
Figure 3. Relay cropping with rice.