Efecto de un tipo de protector en el grado de exportación y tiempo de corte en los racimos de banano

Abstract

The cultivation of bananas is considered one of the most widely consumed fruits worldwide, it is the fourth most cultivated species after wheat, rice and corn being established within the economic sources of many tropical countries. Every year around the world approximately 78.8 million tons of bananas are produced, of which 16.3 million tons are exported and the rest is consumed locally in each producing country. The use of plastic materials in the protection of clusters in the field generates a large amount of polluting waste, among which we can mention the plastic bags for clusters and hand protectors. Ecuador is one of the main producers with strong external demand, causing many countries to promote their production to meet this demand, implying a high competition to conquer the most demanding market niches in terms of agronomic and aesthetic quality at the lowest economic cost and with the least environmental impact; Based on the above, this research has set the following objectives: Determine the effect of 3 types of protectors to improve the post-harvest quality of the banana cluster; Design a protector based on vegetable fiber obtained by pressing bijao leaves (Calathea lutea A.) and evaluate the effect of 2 protectors of industrial origin versus a protector of organic origin. A randomized block design with 3 treatments and 10 repetitions was used. The research was carried out in the experimental banana area of the "Santa Inés" Experimental Farm. According to the analysis of variance, the degree of the fruit was significant in relation to the treatments, while, in the other variables of bunch weight, finger length and number of fingers such effect is not significant, but descriptively the protector made of bijao leaves had better effect than the other treatments. According to Tukey's multiple range test, the degree of the fruit with the organic protector obtained a high significance, the other variables all the means share a same homogeneous group because there is no statistically significant difference, With respect to the quality of the almond of the fruit obtained a better effect under the protection of daipas and protector Basmer presenting almonds with more consistency than the protector of bijao leaves. The placement of the organic protector had a significant effect on the degree of the fruit, presenting statistical differences on the protection of daipas and baser obtaining a better weight of the bunch. The organic protector has a better effect to avoid the presence of pests in the cluster obtaining a high significance in relation to the low presence of red spot in the bunch against the treatments with daipas and the basmer, in turn the protector made of leaves of bijao tends to present a smaller amount of scale insects and scales, still low cost unlike the acquisition of daipas (value of 1000 is close to 37 dollars), and Basmer (75 dollars per thousand). It was possible to obtain a higher degree of harvest with the basmer disc and greater health with the organic protector (made with bijao leaves), the differences were very close between them, so it is recommended to continue with this type of research to improve the prototype and thus have a biodegradable protective option to be used in the organic production of bananas.