Characterization classification and land suitability evaluation of banana growing areas under Bhagalpur district in Bihar

Abstract

Banana (Musa paradisiaca L.) a tropical fruit crop is a native of South East Asia. It is one of the most leading fruit crops grown in India and contributes approximately 31.74 per cent in fruit pool and Bihar ranks 7th rank in banana production. Soil and water resources of the banana growing areas of Bhagalpur, which is sandwiched between the Kosi and Ganga rivers varied, but the soil is known as New Alluvium formed during flood. newlineThe experiment has been laid out by collecting soil and water samples from six blocks and total 960 soil samples from surfaces and subsurface layer were collected from 240 locations at various effective depth layer viz., 0-15, 15-30, 30-45 and 45-60 cm, respectively. Apart from these, 144 water samples were collected during pre and post-monsoon from various sources viz., well, tube-well, river and ponds, during two consecutive years of 2016 and 2017. As per water quality is concerned, pH, EC, RSC and SAR varied from 7.01-8.08, 0.41-1.24 (dS m-1), -7.2 to +8.0, 1.22 to 8.03 and 7.01-8.21 and 0.22-0.94 (dS m-1), -6.8 to +6.6 and 1.30 to 10.17 in 2016 and 2017, respectively. newline newline