Rate of growth

FIGURE 2 shows clearly that under the climatic conditions in Kagera Region (that is, "modified equatorial", where mean temperatures vary very little throughout the year and, at least in the vicinity of Bukoba, there are only short periods of drought) banana growth, in terms of height, increases with time in a uninterrupted and linear manner.

The actual growth rate varied from site to site but all the sites were at closely similar altitudes and their rainfall patterns probably were not different enough to be reflected in the growth rates.

Almost without exception, at any site the stools receiving the highest level of manure (five debes, shown in the graph as solid symbols) grew more vigorously than those with lower levels of manure.

Comparing like treatments at different sites indicates that, on a site by site basis, there is some factor (or combination of factors) which affects growth rate at a site in a consistent and specific manner. For the present purposes and in the remainder of this paper, this factor is referred to as "soil quality".

Relation between girth and height of the pseudostem

The results from both the demonstration and evaluation trials (FIGURE 3) and the factorial trials (FIGURE 4) show that there was a very strong correlation between pseudostem girth and height (r = 0.99). This was the case from an early stage of growth right through to flowering and the correlation was not affected by the treatments in the trials.

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