Evaluation of Banana (Musa spp.) Cultivars for Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality

with a check variety for growth, yield and quality performances at four locations for two crop cycles. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results revealed significant varietal differences in plant height, days to shooting, time from planting to harvest, bunch weight, finger diameter, length and weight, yield, peel thickness, pulp-to-peel ratio, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, moisture and ash contents. The cultivars had generally short and thick plants. Cultivars took from 243.8 to 316.8 days to flowering while from 374.4 to 446.7 days to first harvest. The yield ranged from 43.67 to 52.46 t ha-1. Five cultivars had comparable yields to the check. The sensory results indicated that all the cultivars were generally preferred. The candidate cultivars recorded higher soluble solids, phosphorus and potassium, but lower titratable acidity than the check. The moisture and ash contents ranged from 71.53 to 76.56% and 2.50 to 3.36%, respectively. Considering the growth and yield performances as well as fruit physicochemical and sensory characteristics, ‘Lady Finger’ and ‘Dinke-1’ are recommended for production in the major banana growing areas of Ethiopia.