Use of Reflective Mulch to Enhance Light Interception of Understory Leaves of Musa sp. (Mysore) 'Mysore' Bananas

Bananas are typically characterized as having long production cycles (>9 mo.) and initiate flowering seemingly without regard to temperature or light.  Growing seasons in the subtropics are even more protracted due to cooler temperatures.  To aid in sustainable banana production in the gulf coast of Alabama, innovated production practices should be sought that encourage shortened production cycles that lend themselves to an annual cropping system such as in the case of tree fruit such as peaches, apples and pears.  The most photosynthetically active leaves of banana plants are leaves 2 through leaf 5.  Photosynthesis is reduced after leaf 6 and leaves further down the plant profile begin to senesce which is likely due to shading.  The objective is this study is to determine if enhanced lighting from reflective materials can shorten the production cycle of bananas.  Reflective mulches and fabrics have been used to enhance the light environment to increase photosynthesis and hence yield and earliness of harvest.  In this study white fabric and silver reflective film panels (7.3 m x 2.0 m) were placed on either side of Musa sp. (AAB) ‘Mysore’ planted in groups of three forming an experimental unit.  The experiment followed a completely randomized block design with six replications.  A treatment which received no reflective mulch or fabric was included in the study as a control.  Phenological/physiological data were collected periodically.  Interaction between reflective mulch treatment and days from mature leaf (DFM) (width >10 cm) significantly affected pseudostem length, pseudostem circumference, height: circumference ratio (HCR) leaf area, number of leaves present (NLP) and leaf emergence rate.  In terms of bunch yield and bunch characteristics, reflective fabric consistently produced higher values then the control.  Silver film and white fabric mulches treatments significantly increase light at 1 m above ground but did not significantly increase rate of net photosynthesis. Silver reflective mulch produced bunch yield that was 26% higher than the control while white reflective mulch produced bunch yield that were 15% higher than the control. Silver and white reflective mulch treatments yielded 11 % and 21 % respectively above bananas of the control treatment, but differences were not significant.  White reflective fabric significantly reduced number of days to flower emergence (216 c) compared to both silver reflective (247 a) and control treatment (221 b).  Reflective materials show potential to reduce cropping cycle of bananas to increase sustainability of this production system.