Effect of Silicon Bunch Spraying and Bunch Bagging on Fruit Yield, Quality and Shelf Life of ‘Neypoovan’ Banana

An experiment was conducted to know the effect of bunch spraying of silicon and bunch bagging on fruit yield, quality and shelf life of banana cv. Neypoovan. Potassium silicate was applied as three sprays at 30 days interval after emergence of inflorescence followed of bagging of bunches. Sprays were given at concentration of 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 ml/lit per bunch 30 days interval then followed by bagging of bunches with polyethylene sleeves after spraying till harvest of fruits. Fruit characters like fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, bunch weight and maximum shelf life (7.33 days) was recorded in treatment applied with bunch spraying of potassium silicate 6 ml/l per bunch bagging. The quality parameters viz., total sugars, acidity, total soluble solids, starch content of the fruit were also significantly influenced by same treatment.