INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT FOREST SPECIES AND SPACING ON THE WEIGHT OF BUNCHESFROM CULTIVAR ‘PLÁTANO D’ ANGOLA’

In the present study, banana plants were cultivated in integrated agroforestry systems (IAFSs) established in the Amazon-Cerrado transition region, and the effects of different forest species and crop plant spacings on the weight of the bunches producedwereassessed. The experiment followed a randomized block design in a split-plot arrangement with four treatments in the plots, three treatments in the subplots and three repetitions. The four treatments (plots) corresponded to the forest component of the IAFSs, which included both leguminous (acacia and taxi-branco)and non-leguminous (eucalyptus and casuarina) species. The three treatments (subplots) corresponded to the spacing of the crop component, namely banana cultivar ‘PlátanoD’Angola’, planted at 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0m apart. Banana bunches with the highest weights were obtained when the leguminous trees acacia and taxi-branco were employed as the forest component, with mean productivities of 9 and 11 t ha-1, respectively. A spacing of 1.0 m between banana plants appeared to be suitable for IAFSs involving the slow-growing forest species taxi-branco and casuarina, whereas spacingsof 1.5 and 2.0m were more adequate for the fast-growing species acacia and eucalyptus. Based on the results obtained in this study, recommendations can be made for the establishment of more productive.