Effect of leaf pruning at flower emergence of banana plants (Musa AAA) on fruit yield and black Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) disease

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of banana (Musa AAA) leaf pruning intensities at flower emergence on fruit yield and black Sigatoka leaf infection. In both experiments a decreasing linear effect of leaf pruning intensities was observed on the number of functional and total leaves of the parental plant at harvest. Leaf pruning intensities did not affect bunch weight and fruit length in any experiment. As leaf pruning intensity increased there was a significant rectilinear increase in the flowering index in the first, second and third flowering ratoon crops. In the plant crop experiment black Sigatoka variables were not affected by leaf pruning. However, in the ratoon crops experiment, as leaf removal increased, black Sigatoka severity decreased at 4 and 8 weeks, and was similar at 11 weeks after flower emergence. The results support leaf pruning at flower emergence as a tool for inclusion in the integrated management of black Sigatoka severity, because there was either no reduction in bunch weight or any change in ratooning times.