A Critical Study on the Comparative Performance of Dwarf Cavendish and Robusta in the Palar Basin of North Arcot District in Tamil Nadu

In banana the leading clones in world trade are Gros Michel, Lacatan, Robusta, Dwarf Cavendish and to lesser extent Lady's Finger (Virupakshi) in Australia. Of bananas entering the export trade, about 63% is Gros Michel and 35% is Cavendish bananas. In recent years, the area under Gros Michel has gone down considerably due to its suscepti- bility to Panama disease. The clone Gros Michel is now tending to be replaced by Cavendish clones, especially Robusta due to its immunity to Panama disease. Cavendish clones, especially Dwarf Cavendish are being cultivated in Tamil Nadu for a long time. A high yielding mutant of Dwarf Cavendish known as Robusta was spotted and developed by the Central Banana Research Station, Aduthurai. In view of our export prospects of Robusta this clone was selected for popularisation in the Dwarf Cavendish belt of North Arcot situated in the Palar basin. The Comparative performance of these two clones are presented in the paper.