The relationship between the normalized difference vegetation index, rainfall, and potential evapotranspiration in a banana plantation of Venezuela

<p>The water supply for rainfed crops such as bananas in the Aragua state of Venezuela is often uncertain, particularly towards the beginning of the rainy season (April-May). Where climatic conditions are seasonal, the temporal evolution of the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) closely accompanies the interannual variation of vegetation growth in response to thermal and hydric factors. The aim of the study is to assess the relationship between NDVI, rainfall and potential evapotranspiration during the period of January/2016 to December/2017 in a Venezuelan banana plantation. In this study, the NDVI derived from the GIMMS MODIS Terra product, the daily accumulated precipitation data (mm) and the daily mean air temperature (°C) were used as the only way to estimate the potential evapotranspiration. The results showed that the GMOD09Q1-based NDVI reflects reasonably well the spatiotemporal variation in biomass accumulation. Besides, this provides information on the water stress conditions in banana plants at the plot level. The influence of Precipitation and potential evapotranspiration on the NDVI was more evident when a lag of 1 month was considered in terms of the Spearman r, implying that there is a delay in the banana phonological response to rainfall changes and dryness conditions. However, due to its low spatial resolution (i.e. 250 m), it is not adequate for the identification of banana wilt disease. Therefore, future studies are needed to assess other satellite-derived spectral indices for monitoring the health of banana plants over different sites in Venezuela.</p>

Spatial investigation of soil penetration resistance and its impacts on cultivation of ‘BRS Princesa’ banana

The present study aimed to investigate the spatial variability of soil penetration resistance (SPR) in cultivation areas of ‘BRS Princesa’ banana, to evaluate its effects on the chemical and physical attributes of the soil and to indicate localized management. The experiment was carried out in an area of cultivation ‘BRS Princesa’ banana, in which 60 georeferenced points were recorded. SPR was measured from the cone index to 0.40 m depth using an impact penetrometer. Disturbed samples were collected at depths of 0-0.05, 0.05-0.10, 0.10-0.20 and 0.20-0.40 m and the soil attributes pH, Ca, Mg, Al, Na, K, P, H + Al, SB, T Value, V%, total sand, total clay, silt, TOC, POC, MAOC and gravimetric moisture were determined. The data were subjected to descriptive statistics, Pearson’s linear correlation and geostatistical analysis. SPR values in subsurface suggest greater compaction in subsurface and the significant correlations with soil attributes indicate losses for banana plants, so localized management should be carried out. It was found that 46.7% of the total area of the banana plantation does not need to be decompacted, and localized subsoiling at a varying depth is indicated in the other regions.

Fungal Diversity and Physico-chemical Parameters of Rhizospheric Soil from Banana Plantation Sites at Nagaland, India

Background: Soil Fungi play a vital role in maintaining the soil health. Such Microbial communities offer stability and greater yield in agro-ecosystems. The current study was aimed to evaluate the diversity of rhizospheric fungi present in the Banana plantation site and estimate the values of the selected physico-chemical parameters of the soil.Methods: Soil samples were collected from the two selected sites i.e. Site MK and Site ZB, from Nagaland State, India During the month of October 2019. Soil temperatures, pH, Moisture, organic carbon and Available Nitrogen were measured by standard protocols. Fungi were isolated in Potato dextrose agar and Rose agar plates following serial dilution method. Plates were incubated at 25±1°C for 5-7 days. Fungal colonies were observed and transferred to appropriate identification media and identified with the help of literature.Result: A total of 19 different fungal isolates were recorded from the two sites. It was observed that the Genus Aspergillus was dominant in both the sites.

Water Footprint Assessment of Thai Banana Production

The aim of this research was to assess the water footprint level of Thai banana production. Firstly, the water consumption inventory of banana production was developed. The water consumptions in the banana farms and a case study of banana industry were collected based on the inventory. The results showed that the water consumption of banana plantation was 842.02 m3 including 443.50 m3 of green water, 398.52 m3 of blue water and not found grey water. Moreover, 1638.59 m3/rai was found in the one rai of banana plantation consisted of 863.06 m3/rai of green water and 775.53 m3/rai of blue water. From the finding of this study, the reduction approach of water footprint for banana production should be the reduction of watering the plant in the process of banana growing.

Social tolerance of spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum Karsch (1891) between their colonies under controlled and field conditions

Investigation on social interaction between the individuals of Stegodyphus sarasinorum of two different colonies and their cooperation in prey capture showed that members of different colony were socially accepted by both adults and juveniles. The study also revealed that this species prey upon rice ear bugs and cercopids which form major pests in paddy fields and banana plantation respectively.

L’impérialisme écologique ou la recolonisation par l’agriculture industrielle: Une lecture de La Banane de Franck Bieleu

This article studies The Big Banana, a film by Cameroonian director Franck Bieleu, which shows how the intrusion of a cash crop such as bananas in a local environment brings about several ecological transformations with important sociocultural and ethical ramifications. Using concepts from ecocriticism to analyse the narrative structures of the film, the article explains how the Njombé Penja banana plantation (PHP), construed as a replica of the colonial model of production and spatial organization, leaves the local populations with a strong feeling of dispossession and alienation. It concludes that geographical and ecological forms of imperialism contributed, alongside sociopolitical issues, to the failure of the post-independence African utopia.

Mapping the impacts of hurricanes Maria and Irma on banana production area in the Dominican Republic

Extreme weather events can have devastating impacts on agricultural systems, and the livelihoods that depend on them. Tools for rapid, comprehensive and cost-effective assessment of impacts, especially if carried out remotely, can be of great value in planning systematic recovery of production, as well as assessing risks from future events. Here, we use openly available remote sensing data to quantify the impacts of hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 on banana production area in the Dominican Republic — the world’s largest producer of organic bananas. Further, we assess the risk to current production area if a similar extreme event were to re-occur. Hurricane associated damage was mapped using a simple change detection algorithm applied to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data over the three main banana growing provinces of northern Dominican Republic, i.e. Monte Cristi, Valverde and Santiago. The map of hurricane affected area was overlaid with banana plantation distributions for 2017 and 2019 that were mapped (accuracy = 99.8%) using a random forest classifier, and a combination of SAR and multi-spectral satellite data. Our results show that 11.35% of banana plantation area was affected by hurricane damage in 2017. Between 2017 and 2019, there was a high turnover of plantation area, but with a net gain of 10.8%. However, over a quarter (26.9%) of new plantation area spatially overlapped with regions which had seen flooding or damage from hurricanes in 2017. Our results indicate that banana production systems in northern Dominican Republic saw extensive damage in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. While production area has recovered since then, a substantial proportion of new plantations, and a greater fraction of production area in general, occur at locations at risk from future extreme events.