The 2009 ASHS Annual Conference

Banana is an important fruit crop commonly cultivated in Oman, a semi-arid country in the Arabian Peninsula. Due to emergence of banana diseases in neighboring production regions, several exotic banana genotypes have been introduced to Oman for evaluation. In this study, seven cultivars that included 'SH 3436-9', 'FHIA-21', 'FHIA-03', 'FHIA-18', 'SH 3640', 'FHIA-25', and 'FHIA-23' were evaluated and compared with the locally grown 'Williams' cultivar for yield and fruit quality characteristics. Results from this study showed that 'FHIA-25' had the greatest bunch weight, number of hands and number of fingers followed by 'FHIA-18'. The introduced genotypes showed great variations in the measured postharvest characteristics. The results indicated that 'FHIA-18' and 'FHIA-03' showed excellent bunch and finger characteristics but highly susceptible to finger drop. In contrast, 'SH 3640' had an average bunch and fingers characteristics but had the highest TSS:acid ratio. Among all studied cultivars, 'SH 3436-9' was similar to 'Williams' variety in bunch weight, overall yield and fruit characteristics. Based on yield and postharvest quality attributes, the cultivation of 'FHIA-18', 'FHIA-03', and 'FHIA-21' banana cultivars is recommended under the growing conditions of Oman.