Canopy cover evolution, diurnal patterns and leaf area index relationships in a Mchare and Cavendish banana cultivar under different soil moisture regimes
The biggest abiotic threat to banana (Musa spp.) production is water deficit, but physiological indicators in plantations are lacking. Canopy Cover (CC) seems to be a relevant parameter, but so far not used in banana fields. Field experiments were conducted to determine the effect of optimal irrigation (FI) versus rainfed (RF) on CC and Leaf Area Indices (LAI) in two experiments with different cultivars (Mchare ‘Huti Green’ [HG, AA] and Cavendish ‘Grand Naine’[GN, AAA]) (n = 3 for HG, n = 4 for GN) until harvest of cycle 1 (C1), studying C1 and C2 plants.