Acclimations en pépinière des vitro plants de bananiers plantains (Musa sapientum L.) issus de la technique PIF (Plantules Issues de Fragments) à Gbado-Lite, RDC.

Abstract

A study on the acclimatization of vitro plants for plantain bananas was conducted in Gbado-Lite, Democratic Republic of the Congo, from April 30 to July 10, 2022. The aim was to acclimate plantain banana vitro plants of the French cultivar type, derived from explants taken from a pre-installed propagator on wood sawdust, under local agroecological conditions. To achieve this, the experimental design used was a randomized complete block with 4 repetitions and 2 treatments derived from two types of decomposed organic substrates: rice husks and wood sawdust. These vitro plants were placed in a nursery, in different polyethylene bags containing one or the other of the aforementioned substrates.After a two-month stay in the nursery, the acclimatization of plantain banana offshoots was more successful with well-decomposed rice husks than with decomposed wood sawdust, as they exhibited vigorous growth (average 21.3 ± 1.45 cm) compared to those on wood sawdust (19.6 ± 1.55 cm). The same trend was observed for all studied parameters, including the survival rate, which was also higher (85.0 ± 5.8% vs. 82.5 ± 5.0%).At a 5% significance level, these two substrates showed similar results in terms of survival and growth. Therefore, the choice between the two substrates can be based on economic or logistical criteria, as their agronomic performance in the nursery under Gbado-Lite conditions was comparable.