Banana (G-9 / Grand Naine) Farming in India: Drip Schedule, Fertilizer & SOP

By Sameer Allawadi – Technical Director, Utkarsh Agrochem Pvt. Ltd. · Updated November 2026

For 1 acre of Grand Naine (G-9) tissue-culture banana on drip, planted at 7 ft × 5 ft (about 1,250 plants). Products in bold are available from Utkarsh Agrochem.

Quick answer

Also known as: Kela (Hindi, Gujarati), Keli (Marathi), Vazhai (Tamil), Arati (Telugu), Bale (Kannada), Vazha (Malayalam); G-9 is Grand Naine, a Cavendish (AAA) banana, Musa acuminata.

This guide is for: tissue-culture G-9 banana growers on drip across India — Gujarat, Maharashtra (Jalgaon), Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere.

Get the inputs: order every Utkarsh product in this guide online at utkarshagro.com, or see schedules for other crops in our crop schedules collection. Customer care: 75678 33044. Product information and offline orders: 88665 43678, 90162 08648.

Utkarsh products used in this guide

Click a product name to see its details, pack sizes and price.

1. Quick schedule — one page (per acre)

Always: Calcium Nitrate on its own day · sprays measured per litre of water, with Sil-Spread · bio-products and chemical fungicides 7 days apart · plain water 15–20 minutes before and after fertilizer · never use 2,4-D.

2. Detailed schedule

All quantities are per acre (about 1,250 plants). For 1,000 plants use 0.8 × these doses; for 1,450 plants (6 × 5 ft) use 1.15 ×. Weekly drip doses can be split over two days, for example Monday and Thursday.

2.1 Mixing rules

1. Calcium Nitrate goes alone, on its own day. It may be mixed only with Magnesium Nitrate. Never mix it with Horse Power, NPK 19:19:19, NPK 00:52:34, NPK 00:00:50, Magnesium Sulphate, Huminoz-98, DAP or Ammonium Sulphate.

2. Bio-products (Microbes, Trichoz-P, Sudoz-P, Nematoz-P, Beveroz-P, Metarhoz-P, Verticoz-P) never go in the same tank as a chemical fungicide, copper, bleaching powder or insecticide.

   • If you choose the organic route: use the bio-products on schedule and do not use chemical fungicides.

   • If you choose the chemical route: keep a gap of at least 7 days before and after any bio-product application, because chemicals kill the useful microbes.

3. Sprays are measured per litre of water. Water per acre: about 100 L up to day 60, 200 L at day 60–150, 250–300 L after day 150. Add Sil-Spread to every spray.

4. Run drip 15–20 minutes with plain water before and after every fertilizer, so the lines stay clean and the fertilizer reaches the roots.

2.2 Before planting

2.3 Day-wise schedule

2.4 Drip water per plant per day

Use about 30% less water in December–January and 20% more in April–May. Stop drip on rainy days. Never let black soil crack, and never stop water for long periods.

2.5 Season total (per acre)

Urea 307 kg · MOP 339 kg (289 kg white soluble + 50 kg granular) · SSP 250 kg · Ammonium Sulphate 80 kg · DAP 40 kg · Bentonite Sulphur 10 kg · NPK 19:19:19 40 kg · NPK 00:52:34 12 kg · NPK 13:00:45 48 kg · NPK 00:00:50 40 kg + bunch sprays · Calcium Nitrate 45 kg · Magnesium Sulphate 60 kg · Horse Power 30 L · Roots Multiplier 6.5 L · Stress Free 4 L · Huminoz-98 1.8 kg · Release 4 L · Beshape 1 kg · F-Enhancer 1 kg + bunch sprays · Combi-2 about 2.5 kg.

Adjust to your soil test: sandy or low-potash soil → add 20% MOP. Salty water or soil EC above 1 dS/m → replace half the MOP with NPK 00:00:50. Soil pH above 8 → replace one-third of the Urea with Ammonium Sulphate.

3. Step-by-step SOP

The first 150 days decide how many hands and fingers the bunch will have. After that, you can only fill what the plant has already made.

Stage A — Planning (1–2 months before planting)

1. Test soil and water. Good soil: loamy or clay-loam, well drained, pH 6.0–7.5, EC below 1 dS/m. Good water: pH 6.5–7.5, TDS below 600 ppm. Avoid fields where water stands for more than 2 days.

2. Choose the planting time. In South Gujarat, mid-June to August gives the best bunch weight. February–March planting usually gets better prices but needs extra water and shade care in April–May.

3. Book tissue-culture plants from a government-certified (NCS-TCP) lab, tested free of bunchy top virus. Accept only hardened plants about 30 cm tall, 5 cm thick at the base, with at least 5 open leaves and white roots. Order 5% extra for gap filling.

4. Never plant suckers from a field that had bunchy top or Panama wilt.

Stage B — Land preparation and planting (Day –30 to 0)

1. Plough 2–3 times and level. In black soil or heavy-rain areas, plant on raised beds 30–45 cm high.

2. Mark rows 7 ft apart and plants 5 ft apart (about 1,250 plants per acre). Paired rows (4 ft × 5 ft × 7 ft) also work and save drip pipe.

3. Lay one drip lateral per row with two 4 L/hr drippers per plant, 30 cm on either side of the plant.

4. Enrich the FYM with Microbes, Trichoz-P and Nematoz-P 10–15 days before planting (Section 2.2).

5. Dig pits 1.5 ft × 1.5 ft × 1.5 ft. Fill with topsoil mixed with 5 kg enriched FYM, 150 g Neem Cake and 200 g SSP.

6. In summer, run drip for 2 days before planting so the soil is cool and moist.

7. Plant in the evening. Remove the polybag without breaking the soil ball, put VAMoz-S near the roots, keep the collar at ground level, press the soil firmly and give 2–3 L water per plant at once.

Stage C — Establishment (Day 1–30)

1. Give 4–6 L water per plant per day. Do not flood.

2. Day 7–10: Roots Multiplier + Sudoz-P. Day 15–20: Horse Power + Stress Free.

3. Replace dead or weak plants within 30 days.

4. Keep the field weed-free by hand. Black plastic mulch (100 micron) or dry-leaf mulch saves water and weeding.

5. In monsoon, open drainage channels so water never stands near plants.

Stage D — Vegetative growth (Day 31–120)

1. Start weekly drip feeding from day 31 (Section 2.3).

2. Light hoeing at 45–60 days. Earthing-up at 75–90 days with the soil fertilizer dose.

3. Desucker every month from the 3rd month: cut side suckers at ground level and pour 2 ml kerosene into the cut centre. Do not dig them out; that damages the mother plant's roots.

4. Remove only dried or diseased leaves. Never cut healthy green leaves.

5. Check plants every week: each new leaf should be bigger than the last, with a good gap between leaves.

6. When the monsoon ends, restart full drip at once and check drippers for blockage.

Stage E — Flower initiation (Day 121–210)

1. This is the most important stage. Give the full weekly doses without missing a week. Temperatures of 25–30 °C give the best results.

2. In winter (below 15 °C) growth slows. Keep giving potash, Magnesium Sulphate and Calcium Nitrate, and the Stress Free and Panther applications. Watch for Sigatoka (Section 4).

3. Keep at least 12–14 healthy green leaves on each plant by shooting time.

4. Set up weevil traps with Beveroz-P from the 5th month (Section 4).

Stage F — Shooting and bunch care (Day 210–250)

1. When the bud comes out and is still upright, inject it against thrips (Section 4).

2. Denavel: when the last true hand has opened and 2–3 empty bracts follow, cut the male bud 15 cm below the last hand.

3. Remove the false hand plus one more small hand at the bottom. Fewer, even hands sell better.

4. Remove dried flower tips from the fingers by hand.

5. Seven days after the last hand opens, spray the bunch with NPK 00:00:50 + Sil-Spread, then cover the bunch with a blue or white polythene sleeve (100 gauge, about 6% holes). Tie at the top and leave the bottom open. In winter use a 200-gauge blue cover.

6. Prop every plant carrying a bunch with a bamboo pole, or tie it with polypropylene rope to the next plant, before the bunch gets heavy.

7. In summer, fold a dried leaf over the top of the bunch to stop sunburn.

8. Keep one healthy follower sucker on the side opposite the bunch for the ratoon crop. Remove all others.

Stage G — Harvest (about 110–130 days after shooting)

1. Harvest when the fingers are well rounded and the corner ridges have nearly disappeared: about 75–80% mature for distant markets, fuller for local markets.

2. Cut the bunch with about 30 cm of stalk. Carry it on a padded shoulder or cushioned trolley; never drop it or stack bunches on bare ground.

3. Keep harvested bunches in shade and send them to the buyer the same day.

4. Stop fertilizer 3–4 weeks before harvest, but keep watering.

Stage H — Ratoon crop

1. After harvest, cut the mother stem down in stages over 2–3 weeks so its food passes to the follower.

2. Chop the leaves and stems and spread them between rows as mulch; they return potash to the soil.

3. Follow the schedule again from Stage D, with about 20% less nitrogen.

4. Take at most 2 ratoon crops from tissue-culture plants, then replant.

Keep records

Write down the planting date, every fertilizer and spray (date, product, dose), the shooting date of each row and the bunch weight at harvest. Your records show what worked and what to change next season.

4. Plant protection

Clean TC plants, FYM enriched with Trichoz-P and Nematoz-P, good drainage and a field walk every week prevent most problems. For each problem, choose either the organic route or the chemical route.

Note on your choice: organic products work best when started early, as prevention. If you choose a chemical, keep at least 7 days between it and any bio-product, because chemicals kill the useful microbes. Wear gloves and a mask when spraying chemicals.

Crop planning: crop rotation, intercropping and companion crops

In crop rotation, compatible crops (farmers' "friend crops") are good to grow before or after banana. Incompatible crops ("enemy crops") share its Fusarium wilt (Panama disease), burrowing and root-knot nematodes or rhizome weevil and should not be grown just before or after it.

Pheromone traps, lures and other trapping methods

Using traps correctly: place split-stem traps near the base of plants and check every 3–4 days; handle lures with gloves.

Other non-chemical methods: use tissue-culture plants; remove and destroy bunchy-top plants with their suckers; desucker regularly; cut old pseudostems to ground after harvest and chop them; cover bunches with skirting bags.

5. Cost and profit per acre

One acre costs about ₹1.7 lakh (about ₹138 per plant) and breaks even at about ₹6 per kg for a 25 kg average bunch. These are approximate October 2026 prices; check current rates with your dealer.

Not included: drip system purchase, land rent, harvest and transport (in Gujarat usually paid by the trader).

With 1,150 harvested bunches (92% of plants) at 25 kg each = 28.75 tonnes per acre:

Every extra 1 kg of average bunch weight adds about 1.15 tonnes per acre, which is ₹13,800 at ₹12 per kg. Good feeding in days 31–210 pays back many times.

Organic manures and growth regulators from Utkarsh

Use these alongside the fertigation schedule above. Banana needs more potash than any other nutrient; Organic Potash supplies part of it slowly, and PROM adds phosphorus with organic carbon.

Growth regulators: Bhim is already in the schedule above, as per its label. Bloom Power, Flower Fix and CulStar are not labelled for banana, so do not use them on this crop.

Frequently asked questions

How many G-9 banana plants are planted per acre?

At 7 ft × 5 ft spacing, about 1,250 tissue-culture plants per acre.

What is the yield of G-9 banana per acre?

With 1,150 harvested bunches of 25 kg each, about 28.75 tonnes per acre. Every extra 1 kg of average bunch weight adds about 1.15 tonnes.

Is G-9 banana farming profitable?

One acre costs about ₹1.7 lakh and breaks even at about ₹6 per kg. At ₹12 per kg, net profit is about ₹1,72,700 per acre (Section 5).

Which fertilizers does G-9 banana need through drip?

Section 2 gives a day-wise drip plan with water-soluble NPK, Calcium Nitrate, Magnesium Sulphate and micronutrients; good feeding in days 31–210 decides bunch size.

How do I prevent Panama wilt in banana?

Use clean tissue-culture plants, treat with Trichoz-P and Nematoz-P, keep good drainage, and follow the plant protection table in Section 4.

How do I increase banana bunch weight?

Feed well from day 31 to 210, give potash at shooting, and spray Panther and F-Enhancer at bunch stage as in the schedule.

About this guide

Prepared by Sameer Allawadi, Technical Director, Utkarsh Agrochem Pvt. Ltd., Surat, Gujarat — makers of bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides, biostimulants and water-soluble fertilizers since 1999. Last reviewed: November 2026. Doses are general guidance for Indian conditions; always read the product label and follow local agriculture department advice.

Topics covered: G-9 banana farming, Grand Naine banana cultivation in India, tissue culture banana, banana drip fertigation schedule, kela ni kheti, banana fertilizer per plant, Panama wilt, Sigatoka, rhizome weevil, banana bunch weight, banana yield per acre, banana farming profit.

Utkarsh Agrochem Pvt. Ltd. 177–179, Golden Plaza, Behind Kamrej Police Station, NH No. 48, Taluka Kamrej, District Surat – 394185 · Customer care: 75678 33044 · Product information and offline orders: 88665 43678, 90162 08648 · www.utkarshagro.com

This schedule follows the recommendations of ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Navsari Agricultural University and MPKV Rahuri, together with Utkarsh field experience. Results depend on soil, water, weather and care.

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