Banana is a highly exhaustive crop which requires large quantities of mineral nutrients for rapid growth and development, thus it readily responds to applied nutrients. Major nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium play an important role in the vegetative and reproductive phases of crop growth, depending on the cultivar. In general, the input use efficiency of various nutrients used for crop growth and development is currently very low leading to problems of decreased productivity, degradation of soil health and increased environmental pollution apart from the wastage of substantial quantity of costly and scarce inputs. |
