Evaluation of Banana Germplasm for leaf Industry and their suitability to different production profiles in India.

Traditionally banana-leaf harvesting has been a commercial venture of most banana growers. In the southern states of India, serving food on banana leaves is considered very religious and auspicious in traditional households. It has been a practice to have 2–3 clumps of banana plants as a source of leaf for dining purpose along with dessert and cooking bananas in the backyard. But this has grown into an industry over the past decade with standardized practices and organized marketing channels. The leaf industry is not cultivar specific but varieties of local preference both for bunch and leaf purposes are used, they are mostly Poovan (AAB- Mysore), Monthan (ABB- Monthan), Peyan (ABB- Unique), Sakkai (ABB- Bluggoe) and Karpuravalli (ABB- Pisang Awak). The plant crop is generally left for bunch production while first and second ratoons are used for leaf production. The newly emerging unfurled leaf is identified, which is ready for opening in 2–4 days. A ring made of thread derived from dried banana leaf sheath is inserted at the leaf tip to prevent it from furling, which otherwise leads to reduction in leaf quality. Leaves are left for full emergence and harvested carefully with a sharp knife at the base. A well-managed plant produces good size leaves of 2.0–2.5 m in length and 0.6–0.8 m width. Leaves are bundled in batches of 50s arranged alternatively with an outer layer of dried leaf sheath to prevent moisture loss and bruises. The bundles later enter into various marketing channels.Banana is an important fruit crop in India with great socioeconomic relevance. The plant is called Kalpataru (plant of all virtues) owing to the versatile uses of all its plant parts. Apart from its commercial dual utilities as a dessert and culinary crop, other banana-based industries have not gained much attention. The banana leaf industry is one of the banana-based businesses in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The annual turnover of the leaf industry is estimated to be Rupees 128 million (Singh 1996) approximately equivalent to 1/7th of the annual turnover of the banana industry. Use of banana leaves as biodegradable dining plates has both cultural and ecological significance. Compared with other banana-based industries, such as the fibre industry, this has become a source of livelihood for several marginal farming communities. This industry has proved advantageous due to: (a) sustainable demand for leaf throughout the year; (b) a year-round sustained source of income for the farming families; (c) the ability to balance the price fluctuation faced by the farmer in the fruit industry, to a greater extent; and (d) its applicability to different banana production systems including garden land cultivation, wet land cultivation and high-land gardens. At present banana cultivation is increasingly threatened by different fungal and viral diseases. But different leaf spot diseases caused by different fungal pathogens are of highest concern in the leaf industry. Of late, in cv. Poovan, the leaf spot caused by Mycospharella has become very serious. Drechslera leaf spot, which affects only the young leaves, is a major concern during January to April (Selvarajan et al. 2000, 2001). In spite of its importance, research towards the banana-leaf industry has been limited. In the present study efforts have been made to screen and evaluate banana germplasm for leaf harvesting purposes