Banana Farmers Urged to Use Fertilisers After Heavy Rainfall to Promote Crop Recovery

The Banana Board is reminding farmers to prioritise the proper use of fertilisers after periods of heavy rainfall, to promote crop recovery.

General Manager of the Banana Board, Janet Conie, told JIS News that periods of heavy rain can lead to the depletion of essential nutrients in the soil.

“When you have had a hurricane and if you had a flood, especially, all the fertilisers have leached out or been depleted. So, fertiliser replenishment is extremely necessary and bananas use a lot,” she said.

Mrs. Conie, who was speaking during a recent ‘Get the Facts’ interview, said fertilisation is important for recovery.

The Board does not recommend the administering of fertiliser beyond six weeks and the first type of fertiliser that should be used is Nitrogen.

“Nitrogen pushes leaves and we really want to push the things that are coming. We use sulphate of ammonia, which is a nitrogen fertiliser, and we recommend four ounces per mat per root. If you use urea, which is another form of Nitrogen, it’s half of the amount, so it depends on what you use,” Mrs. Conie said.

In addition to managing pests and diseases, such as leaf spot disease, which can impact the growth of plants, Mrs. Conie recommends fertilising based on the frequency of rainfall.

“If rain falls often, we ask you to break up the fertiliser and fertilise more often. But we will tell farmers how to do that. The type of fertiliser you put in will also be based on what we assess and tell you to put in,” she said.

For more information on the type of fertilisers needed for their crop, banana and plantain farmers can contact the Banana Board at 876-922-5490/876-922-4327, email bananaboard@cwjamaica.com or visit their office at 10 South Avenue in Kingston.