Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicolas Naranja
Gabe, I read in one of my banana books that when the switch to cavendish was made, growers realized that they could increase plant populations and yields went fron 12-15 tons per acre to 30 tons per acre.
At least in my subtropical location, the yield per plant from Williams blows away Gros Michel.
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That switch was also long ago a lot has changed since then, and yield is a very complex metric. A huge portion of the advancing yield gain for many crops has come from cultivation and post harvest handling system improvements, not just genetic changes in the crop (and of course for banana there has been extremely limited genetic change). Plant to plant, the best Gros Michel clones and the best Cavendish clones are fairly equal. I would hazard to guess that a dwarf Gros Michel cultivar such as 'Cocos' grown with all the modern tricks (tissue cultured plants, frequent replanting, increased plant density, efficient irrigation, good sucker pruning, ample fertility, pest and disease control etc...) competes well with Cavendish in terms of yield. A huge portion of Cavendish fruit is also thrown out because they damage very easy, easier than Gros Michel, that also accounts into the yield tally.
Growing conditions are also very important as you mention, in my experience in Hawaii 'Williams' and 'Cocos' and 'Highgate' are right on par with each other, 80-100lbs/bunch on the first cycle and increasing with good care there after.