Philippine Journal of Science 149 (3-a): 981-992, October 2020 ISSN 0031 - 7683 Date Received: 17 Apr 2020

Characterization and Agronomic Evaluation of Naturally Occurring Short-statured Saba in the

Lavernee S. Gueco1*, Irish B. Posada1, Frelyn V. Corpuz1, Lyka A. Yanos1, Felipe S. dela Cruz Jr. 1, Olivia P. Damasco1, Michelle Lyka V. Descalsota1, and Agustin B. Molina Jr.2

1National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory Institute of Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture and Food Science University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna 4031 Philippines 2International Consultant for Banana R&D and Technical Adviser Department of Agriculture, Quezon City 1100 Philippines

One of the major constraints in the Philippine banana chips industry is the lack of steady supply of raw materials for sustained production operation. The current , Saba, is tall and bears first fruits in almost two years after planting. This study was conducted to characterize the putative short-statured Saba germplasm assembled at the national repository, identify promising accessions based on agro-morphological traits, and evaluate their performance in replicated trials. Nineteen (19) Saba accessions were characterized morphologically using 17 qualitative and 17 quantitative descriptors. Characterization data revealed an intermediate genetic variation within the collection. The computed Shannon-Weaver diversity index ranged from 0.13 (pseudostem color) to 0.85 (wing type). Further analysis of the quantitative data grouped the accessions into six morphological clusters based on HCPC. Four promising lines were selected from the clusters formed, characterized by shorter plant height, shorter cropping period, and acceptable fruit and yield characters. The replicated evaluation trial of the selected accessions along with two check varieties revealed accession 09-063 as the most promising collection with the shortest plant height, earliest maturity, and with the plant crop's computed bunch weight per annum (BWPA) of 14.91 kg. Utilization of this accession in banana plantations, in combination with high-density planting, would provide a significant impact on yield, profit, and availability of raw Saba for direct consumption and processing.

Keywords: diversity, HCPC, , PCA, Shannon-Weaver

INTRODUCTION tons, with the Philippines contributing 18% of the global shipment (FAO 2019a), catering to Asian countries like With more than 480,000 ha production area and 6.1 Japan, China, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, th million tons total production, the Philippines ranks 6 Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait. in the world’s top banana producers after India, China, , Brazil, and (FAO 2019b). In 2018, Among the banana in the country, the Cavendish, the total banana export worldwide reached 19.2 million Saba, and Lakatan are the most popular. Cavendish *Corresponding Author: [email protected] cultivar is primarily grown for export to other countries. In terms of land area, Saba ranks first as it occupies

981 Philippine Journal of Science Gueco et al.: Naturally Occurring Short-statured Vol. 149 No. 3-a, October 2020 in the Philippines almost 200,000 ha of land in the country. In general, most Dwarf or short-statured banana has also been reported in varieties in the Philippines belong to the several cultivars – including Cachaco Enano, Prata Ana, Saba subgroup, including Cardaba and Dippig. Cardaba is and Figue Rose Naine – which all have equivalent normal more popular in the southern part of the Philippines while stature counterparts (Engelborghs et al. 2004). Dippig is a popular farmer’s cooking-type cultivar in the Ilocos region. These two cultivars are the main source of Plants with short stature are more tolerant of strong wind raw materials for banana chips processing. Apart from this, damage and amenable to closer planting distance, thus Dippig and Cardaba are known for a variety of other uses increasing the number of plants that can be grown in any in food preparation. Both are mostly eaten boiled/steamed given area. Short-statured plants that are early maturing but may also be eaten raw (uncooked) when ripe. They and high yielding are preferred planting materials, are commonly used in the preparation of popular Filipino especially in areas frequently visited by typhoons. Since foods like , “,” “,” among the conventional breeding of banana is expensive, slow, others. Their leaves are used in food wrappings while its and complicated, one strategy for crop improvement is male bud or “puso ng saging” is the preferred variety for to collect the naturally occurring genetic variants, which vegetable dishes like “kare-kare.” Lakatan, on the other could have been products of spontaneous mutations and/ hand, is the most popular dessert variety and sold at a or selections for several years of cultivation, and evaluate higher price in the local market making production very them in the field under optimal growing condition. profitable. Of the three major banana varieties grown in There is a wide range of variations in the Cavendish the country, fresh Cavendish and by-products of Saba subgroup, including differences in pseudostem height, contribute largely to the country’s export earnings. Among and the occurrence of dwarfism as a result of mutation is the processed fruit products, banana chips is the top dollar common (OGTR 2008). The diversity in the Philippine earner (Eusebio and Carpio 2002). Saba has been reported by dela Cruz et al. (2020) and One of the problems hampering the Philippines banana Dolairas-Laraño et al. (2018). In the farmer’s fields, some chips industry is the lack of raw materials for processing. Saba cultivars with short stature have been observed to The local cultivar Saba is tall, usually more than 4 m in occur naturally. This results in earlier fruit production height – and, in some cases, may reach 8 m – and have and tolerance to natural disasters such as typhoons. a long cropping period with an average harvest time of These banana cultivars may provide important materials 644 days (DA 2018; Valmayor et al. 2002). Tall cultivars for the banana chips industry. The present study aimed are also more vulnerable to damage caused by strong to (1) evaluate the diversity existing in the collection of winds and typhoons. The Philippines has an average of 20 short-statured Saba accessions using agro-morphological tropical cyclones every year causing significant damage traits, (2) identify promising accessions with reduced in Saba growing areas, especially in Luzon. This results cropping period and improved yield, and (3) evaluate the in an unsteady supply of raw materials for banana chips performance of the selected accessions in replicated trials both in the domestic and foreign markets. under optimal environment. Crop improvement in banana focuses on conventional breeding, mutation breeding, and genetic modification (Swenen et al. 2020). Genetic modification of Cavendish MATERIALS AND METHODS banana, the most popular variety for the export market, with high levels of pro- A (Dale et al. 2020a) and Plant Material transgenic with resistance to Fusarium Nineteen (19) short-statured Saba accessions collected Wilt TR4 are currently being evaluated (Dale et al. 2020b). from different parts of the country and planted at the The variety GN-60A, a mutant of Gran Naine, is an field genebank of the National Plant Genetic Resources early flowering line that was regenerated from gamma- Laboratory (NPGRL), Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB), irradiated populations. The clone was micropropagated University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) were and evaluated in and an early flowering line (10 used in this study. The accession number, local name, weeks earlier) was selected and was registered under the and sampling location of the assembled germplasm are name Novaria (Mak et al. 1995). Several putative mutant given in Table 1. lines with height reduction, FOC tolerance, larger fruits size, earliness, and tolerant to toxins have been obtained using gamma rays and somaclonal variation (Roux et al. Characterization and Estimation of Diversity 2004). Resistance to the Banana Bunchy Top Virus in Short-statured Saba accessions established at the Lakatan has been generated through gamma irradiation NPGRL-IPB, UPLB (14°09'54.7"N, 121°15'05.7"E) coupled with in vitro techniques (Damasco et al. 2020). were morphologically characterized using a subset of descriptors for Musa published by Bioversity International

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Table 1. List of characterized short-statured Saba accessions assembled at NPGRL-IPB, their local name, and place of collection. Accession no. Local name Collection site Latitude Longitude Elevation 09-011 Cardaba Davao del Norte N07° 30' 33.7" E125° 36' 6" 71 09-041 Dalian N07° 06' 12" E125° 27' 36" 335 09-042 Abuhon/Cardaba Davao City N07° 06' 12" E125° 27' 36" 335 09-043 Cardaba Davao City N07° 06' 12" E125° 27' 36" 335 09-044 Cardaba Bukidnon N07° 51' 18" E125° 02' 4" 441 09-056 Dippig Quirino N16° 21' 57" E121° 42' 26" 233 09-062 Luyluy/Dippig Nueva Vizcaya N16° 29' 13" E121° 15' 32" 330 09-063 Luyluy/Dippig Nueva Vizcaya N16° 29' 13" E121° 17' 32 334 09-064 Luyluy/Dippig/Cardaba Nueva Vizcaya N16° 29' 12" E121° 17' 49" 342 10-001 Saba Occidental Mindoro N13° 13' 13" E120° 36' 37" 32 10-006 Saba Occidental Mindoro N12° 49' 46" E120° 55' 11" 30 10-009 Saba Occidental Mindoro N13° 08' 54" E120° 41' 42" 6 10-010 Saba Occidental Mindoro N13° 10' 51" E120° 40' 12" 28 10-038 Sabang Binong Batangas N14° 05' 19" E121° 03' 52" 57 10-040 Sabang Barako Batangas N13° 54' 29.7" E120° 51' 36.9" 13 10-041 Sabang Pulpol Cavite N14° 11' 23.4" E120° 49' 38.3" 225 10-043 Sabang Pulpol Cavite N14° 14' 1.3" E120° 46' 38.7" 109 10-049 Saba Oriental Mindoro N12° 37' 48.9" E121° 30' 14" 10 10-050 Saba Oriental Mindoro N12° 40' 25.5" E121° 30' 27.6" 40

(IPGRI-INIBAP-CIRAD 1996). A total of 34 descriptor components (PCs) for clustering. PCs with eigenvalues traits, 17 qualitative and 17 quantitative, were used to above 1 were retained for succeeding analysis (Kaiser assess the level of diversity in the collection. Estimates of 1958). The classification of accessions in different clusters diversity were measured using the standardized Shannon- was based on Ward’s criterion (Husson et al. 2010). The Weaver diversity index ( ) (Shannon and Weaver 1949) FactoMineR package (Le et al. 2008) was used to run the following the formula: HCPC function and generated data were visualized with factoextra (https://CRAN.R-project.org). All processes in the multivariate analyses were performed under R 3.5.3 environments (https://www.R-project.org). where pi is the frequency proportion of each descriptor state and n is the number of states for each descriptor. Evaluation of Selected Accessions in Replicated Trials Computed values were classified as high ( ), Morphological characterization results were used to intermediate , or low identify promising short-statured Saba accessions. To , as described by Eticha et al. (2005). further evaluate the yield and yield characteristics of the For quantitative characters, 10 frequency classes were selected accessions, a replicated trial was conducted at the determined using the mean (x) and standard deviation experimental field of UPLB. For this purpose, clean and (σ) values (Pecetti et al. 1992), where the range of class healthy suckers from the field genebank were collected and cultured in vitro following the published protocol 1 was defined as X1 < x – 2σ while the range of class 10 (Damasco and Barba 1985) and optimized procedure as X1 > x + 2σ. The diversity index for quantitative traits was computed following the formula above. developed by NPGRL Tissue Culture Laboratory (Damasco et al. 2012). This optimized protocol entails a To better visualize the quantitative data, the hierarchical shortened period between subculture until proliferation. clustering of principal components (HCPC) was carried Rooted meriplants were potted out and acclimatized out. For this purpose, principal component analysis in the nursery for 2–3 months prior to transplanting (PCA) was initially performed to reduce the dimension in the field. Plants with 4–5 leaves were laid out in a of the data and determine the most significant principal randomized complete block design with three blocks, each

983 Philippine Journal of Science Gueco et al.: Naturally Occurring Short-statured Vol. 149 No. 3-a, October 2020 Saba Banana in the Philippines block represents the complete set of accessions and two RESULTS AND DISCUSSION additional tall cultivars belonging to the Saba subgroup, Cardaba and Dippig, as checks. Cardaba was the common Morphological Diversity of Short-statured Saba cultivar being sold by tissue cultured laboratories in Germplasm Davao while Dippig came from Quirino province. Each The computed diversity indices for quantitative traits accession was replicated nine times in each block. Plants ranged from 0.31 for fruit length to 0.67 for bunch weight were established in the field at 3 m x 4 m spacing. At and total soluble solids, with a mean diversity value of planting, 11 g of complete fertilizer (14-14-14) per plant 0.54. In addition to fruit length, the quantitative traits was applied. Fertilization was followed every two months “days from shooting to harvest” and “days from planting thereafter at a rate of 11 g complete fertilizer, 26 g of urea to harvest” also showed low diversity values of 0.34 and (46-0-0), and 23 g of muriate of potash (0-0-60). Weeding, 0.38, respectively. High level of diversity on the other stem and mat sanitation, deleafing, desuckering, and hand was also observed for pseudostem height (0.61), debudding were done as necessary to maintain the normal pseudostem girth (0.65), fruit width (0.63), fruit peel growth and development of the plants. Irrigation was done weight (0.65), fruit peel thickness (0.64), and pedicel whenever necessary, especially during the dry season. length (0.61). The remaining quantitative characters Drainage canals were also constructed to remove excess were classified as intermediate, with diversity values water and prevent waterlogging in the experimental field. ranging from 0.41–0.58. The overall diversity mean of Data on selected agronomic (plant height, pseudostem 0.54 implies an intermediate variation within the selected girth, days to flowering, days to harvest) and yield short-statured Saba in terms of quantitative characters parameters (bunch weight, BWPA, number of hands, (Table 2a). Qualitative traits were observed to have low number of fingers) were recorded during harvest. (eight characters) to intermediate (six characters) diversity, Analysis of variance was performed using the R 3.5.3 with values ranging from 0.13–0.50. Only three characters, software (https://www.R-project.org) and significant i.e. petiole canal leaf, wing type, and bunch appearance, differences between accessions were evaluated with the showed high variation with H’ values of 0.64, 0.85, least significant difference set at α = 0.05. and 0.66, respectively (Table 2b). The diversity in the bunch appearance of the different accessions is shown in Figure 1. Low diversity index values are indicative of the dominance of a particular descriptor state over the others, while high diversity index values indicate a relatively even distribution of different descriptor states. The dominant

Table 2a. Diversity of quantitative traits among short-statured Saba accessions, as revealed by ′.

Quantitative trait Mean Range퐻 H' Diversity level Pseudostem height (m) 3.4 2.76–3.95 0.61 High Pseudostem girth (cm) 68.1 49–80 0.65 High Fruit weight (g) 136.2 89.3–237.9 0.58 Intermediate Fruit length (mm) 66.1 10.5–163.4 0.31 Low Fruit width (mm) 46.8 42.2–51.5 0.63 High Fruit thickness (mm) 37.9 33.0–44.8 0.53 Intermediate Fruit peel weight (g) 50.5 30.6–74.6 0.65 High Fruit peel thickness (mm) 2.9 1.8–4.2 0.64 High Pedicel length (mm) 26.7 22.1–30.8 0.61 High Pedicel width (mm) 12.2 9.3–13.6 0.61 High Total soluble solids (°Bx) 25.9 22.3–30 0.67 High Bunch weight (kg) 20.2 11.6–29.2 0.67 High Hand number 8.6 6.0–10.0 0.45 Intermediate Finger number 143.6 62–184 0.41 Intermediate Days from planting to shooting 286.4 198–333 0.46 Intermediate Days from shooting to harvest 140.7 82–256 0.34 Low Days from planting to harvest 427.1 351–454 0.38 Low

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Table 2b. Diversity of qualitative traits among short-statured Saba accessions, as revealed by ′.

Qualitative trait Number of Dominant character 퐻 H' Diversity level descriptor states Pseudostem color 16 Medium 0.13 Low Pseudostem appearance 2 Shiny 0.31 Low Pseudostem underlying color 8 Watery green 0.17 Low Underlying pigmentation 8 Pink purple 0.38 Low Blotches at petiole base 5 Small blotches 0.22 Low Petiole canal leaf 5 Margins curved inward 0.64 High Petiole margins 5 Winged and clasping 0.41 Intermediate Wing type 2 Dry 0.85 High Edge of petiole margin 2 Colorless 0.50 Intermediate Appearance of leaf lower surface 2 Dull 0.50 Intermediate Wax on leaves 4 Moderately waxy 0.15 Low Shape of leaf blade base 3 Both sides rounded 0.32 Low Bunch position 5 Slightly angled 0.41 Intermediate Transverse section of fruit 3 Pronounced ridges 0.48 Intermediate Fruit apex 5 Blunt-tipped 0.45 Intermediate Bunch shape 5 Truncated cone shape 0.37 Low Bunch appearance 3 Lax 0.66 High

Figure 1. Diversity in bunch appearance of select accessions: (L–R) accessions 09-063, 09-041, and 10-050. character for each qualitative trait measured is shown in Morphological characterization is a simple way to evaluate Table 2b. variability in germplasm collections (Khan et al. 2015) and has been widely used in estimating the degree of diversity Sustainable conservation and effective use of germplasm in different plant species (Archak et al. 2016; Santos et collections for research and breeding necessitate prior al. 2012; Upadhyaya 2003; Wei et al. 2019; Zavinon et knowledge of the diversity existing in the Genebank al. 2019). Understanding the genetic relatedness among (Beuselinck and Steiner 1992). Hence, characterization, individuals facilitates the selection of superior materials for evaluation, and classification are crucial components direct utilization or as parents in various breeding programs. for the management of genetic resources (Ortiz 1997).

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Multivariate Analysis of Quantitative Traits HCPC was performed to describe the existing variability –0.59 and –0.74, respectively. Figure 2 presents the PCA in the short-statured Saba collection and elucidate the graph of the variables and individuals plotted on the first similarities between individuals based on 17 quantitative two components. From the graph, it can be seen that characters. Eigenvalues above 1 were observed in the PC 1 opposes individuals with high values of PELTH, first four PCs (Table 3), explaining 82.2% of the total DPTOSH, PSEGRT, and DPTOH (e.g. 10-006, 10-009) variability. The first PC, which explains 34.6% of the to individuals with high values of FRTWT, FRTTH, total variance, is positively correlated with pseudostem PELWT, and FRTLN (e.g. 10-040 and 10-038), with the height (PSEHT), pseudostem girth (PSEGRT), fruit peel former characterized by a strongly positive coordinate to thickness (PELTH), total soluble solids (TSS), hand the right of the axis and the latter categorized with strongly number (HNDNO), finger number (FINNO), days from negative coordinate to the left of the axis. Conversely, planting to shooting (DPTOSH), and days from planting PC2 opposes individuals with low values for the variable to harvest (DPTOH). On the other hand, fruit weight FRTLN to individuals, with low values of PEDWD, (FRTWT), fruit length (FRTLN), fruit thickness (FRTTH), PELTH, PEDLN, and PELWT placing individuals from and fruit peel weight (PELWT) were found negatively the latter at the top of the graph (positive coordinate) and correlated to PC1. The second principal component the former at the bottom (negative coordinate). accounted for 21.3% of the variance and was positively Succeeding cluster analysis was performed in the first correlated with plant height, fruit width (FRTWD), fruit four PCs and the classification made on the individuals thickness, fruit peel weight, fruit peel thickness, pedicel revealed six morphological clusters (Figure 3). Among length (PEDLN), and pedicel width (PEDWD). PC3 the six clusters formed, the 1st and 3rd clusters were was mostly positively correlated with yield characters observed to include a single accession, i.e. 10-038 and including bunch weight (BUNWT), hand number, and 09-063, respectively. Conversely, clusters 5 and 6 were finger number. For PC4, only total soluble solids and days found to encompass 42% and 26% of the total accessions from shooting to harvest (DSHTOH) were associated at evaluated, respectively. The lone accession in cluster 1

Table 3. Correlation coefficients between each analyzed trait and the first four PCs, along with eigenvalues and proportion of variability explained by each PC. Trait Trait code PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 Pseudostem height PSEHT 0.46 0.58 0.31 0.05 Pseudostem girth PSEGRT 0.84 0.26 0.16 0.31 Fruit weight FRTWT –0.85 0.39 0.14 0.27 Fruit length FRTLN –0.83 –0.36 0.27 0.05 Fruit width FRTWD –0.28 0.75 0.28 0.10 Fruit thickness FRTTH –0.78 0.52 0.11 0.03 Fruit peel weight PELWT –0.62 0.61 0.02 0.41 Fruit peel thickness PELTH 0.60 0.47 –0.40 0.11 Pedicel length PEDLN 0.05 0.61 0.09 –0.29 Pedicel width PEDWD 0.12 0.76 –0.02 0.07 Total soluble solids TSS 0.47 0.31 0.30 –0.59 Bunch weight BUNWT 0.06 0.23 0.90 0.07 Hand number HNDNO 0.66 –0.10 0.69 –0.07 Finger number FINNO 0.59 –0.23 0.72 0.04 Days from planting to shooting DPTOSH 0.77 0.09 –0.40 0.42 Days from shooting to harvest DSHTOH –0.38 0.39 –0.19 –0.74 Days from planting to harvest DPTOH 0.60 0.43 –0.62 –0.12 Eigenvalue 5.88 3.62 2.92 1.55 Variability % 34.6 21.3 17.20 9.14 Accumulated variability % 34.6 55.9 73.10 82.24 *Values in bold indicate significant correlations at α = 0.05.

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Figure 2. PCA graph of variables and individuals plotted on the first two PCs. Dim1 and Dim2 correspond to PC1 and PC2, respectively.

Figure 3. Cluster plots showing the number of clusters based on 17 quantitative traits measured. is characterized by longer days from shooting to harvest, diameter), and intermediate value for bunch weight. short pseudostem girth, low number of fruit hands, and Accessions in the last cluster have bigger pseudostem fewer fruit fingers. Accessions in the 2nd cluster were girth and high total soluble solids. The identification of found to have heavier individual fingers, high values these six morphological clusters provided information on for fruit peel weight, and low total soluble solids; and the differences and similarities among the short-statured share the same characteristics as cluster 1 in terms of the accessions in terms of quantitative traits. As most of the number of hands and fingers. The accession in cluster traits measured presents some degree of importance for 3 takes shorter days to harvest. Similarly, accessions in utilization and breeding, the information generated can cluster 4 were characterized by shorter days to harvest, guide researchers/breeders to select accessions for further shorter days to shooting, and relatively low values for exploitation in downstream programs. peel thickness. Accessions in cluster 5 were observed to have longer days to shooting, low values for fruit-related In terms of morphological characters, three distinct traits (including fruit thickness, fruit weight, and fruit subgroups were observed. The Bluggoe types: composed of 10-038 (cluster 1), 10-040 (cluster 2), and 10-050

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(cluster 2) have short pseudostem heights with dark green Compared to the typical Saba, the selections have a shorter fruits but poor eating quality, locally known as Gubao/ crop cycle (351–415 days) and shorter pseudostem height Datu types. The other group is an intermediate between the (3.04–3.65 m). Valmayor et al. (2002) reported that the Bluggoe and Saba types, which have intermediate heights, pseudostem height of typical Saba measures 4.5–5.0 m but bunch and fruit characteristics comparable with the tall and takes roughly 644 days to harvest. In the farmer’s typical Saba/Cardaba types. Accessions belonging to this field, some Saba plants were observed to reach 8–9 m. group include 09-063 (cluster 3), 09-062 (cluster 4), and Shortened crop period and shorter pseudostem height are 09-064 (cluster 4); the rest of the accessions may be the two of the most desirable agronomic traits in banana. The typical Saba/Cardaba fruit types. 27–32% drop in plant height and 36–45% reduction in the crop cycle would have a significant impact on the yield, The preliminary agronomic performance of the different profitability, and availability of raw Saba for consumption short-statured Saba is presented in Table 4. The accession or processing. The shortened period of production 09-063 and 09-064 obtained the heaviest bunch weights equates to an earlier return on investment (ROI) and cuts with 29.2 kg and 26.3 kg, respectively. These two a significant amount of operating cost for maintenance. accessions likewise displayed short pseudostem heights Shorter plants on the other hand has lesser vulnerability and short crop cycle. Although some accessions like 10- to wind damage caused by typhoons and facilitates easy 038 and 10-040 have short stature, they do not have good harvesting. Moreover, shorter plants are ideal on steep eating quality. Another interesting accession is 10-009 slopes and can be densely planted, creating high yield with a bunch weight of 26.2 kg and with intermediate potential and economic profit (dela Cruz et al. 2009). height (3.65 m). There are other accessions that are shorter, but they are Gubao types (10-038 and 10-040) and tastes are not acceptable. According to the manufacturer of Agronomic and Yield Performance of Promising banana chips, 09-044 is excellent for banana chips; hence, Accessions it was included in the replicated trial. The replicated trial revealed significant variations in the agronomic and yield performance of the different accessions (Table 5). The shortest mean height was recorded

Table 4. Preliminary agronomic performance of different short-statured Saba accessions. Accession Local name Pseudostem Days from planting Bunch weight Bunch weight No. of No. of number height (m) to harvesting (kg) per annum hands fingers (kg yr–1) 09-011 Cardaba 3.46 443 23 18.95 9 142 09-041 Dalian 3.40 454 18.1 14.55 9 147 09-042 Abuhon/Cardaba 3.50 443 25 20.60 10 161 09-043 Cardaba 3.33 454 21.2 17.04 9 165 09-044 Cardaba 3.32 415 23 20.23 8 146 09-056 Dippig 3.12 454 11.6 9.33 8 116 09-062 Luyluy/Dippig 2.96 364 21.7 21.76 10 180 09-063 Luyluy/Dippig 3.24 351 29.2 30.36 10 182 09-064 Luyluy/Dippig/Cardaba 3.04 372 26.3 25.81 9 180 10-001 Saba 3.52 454 20 16.08 9 167 10-006 Saba 3.95 454 23 18.49 9 156 10-009 Saba 3.65 443 26.2 21.59 9 152 10-010 Saba 3.68 454 22.2 17.85 9 145 10-038 Sabang Binong 2.77 454 13.2 10.61 8 138 10-040 Sabang Barako 2.76 351 20 20.80 6 72 10-041 Sabang Pulpol 3.51 415 16.1 14.16 9 154 10-043 Sabang Pulpol 3.35 443 16 13.18 9 152 10-049 Saba 3.41 454 14.2 11.42 8 130 10-050 Saba 3.21 443 13 10.71 7 117 *All agronomic traits measured were obtained on the main crop at harvest.

988 Philippine Journal of Science Gueco et al.: Naturally Occurring Short-statured Vol. 149 No. 3-a, October 2020 Saba Banana in the Philippines in accession 09-063 (3.13 m), which was significantly is also comparable to Cardaba while 09-063 significantly shorter than the check cultivars. This was followed by yields the least with 16.55 kg average bunch weight. accession 09-044 (3.92 m). On the other hand, plant heights Although characterized by the least average bunch weight, of cultivars 09-064 and 10-009 were 4.34 m and 4.14 m, accession 09-063 has considerably the greatest number respectively, and were comparable to Cardaba (4.29 m). of hands and fingers among other cultivars with average Dippig exhibited the tallest pseudostem height with 4.5 m. values of 10 hands and 157 fingers. The other selections Accession 09-063 had a height reduction of 26.23% and produced statistically the same number of hands and 30.34% as compared to the check cultivars Cardaba and fingers compared to the check cultivar, Cardaba. Dippig, respectively. In contrast to tall banana cultivars, short-statured accessions are amenable to closer planting Considering both yield and earliness to harvest of the plant distance (dela Cruz et al. 2009); hence, a greater number crop, the BWPA [bunch wt x (365/days to harvest)] was of plants can be planted per unit area. In the cultivar Grand computed. The heaviest BWPA was recorded in Dippig -1 Nain, high-density planting resulted in an improved yield (17.83 kg yr ). This was followed by 10-009 (15.32 kg -1 -1 -1 with increased bunch weight and improved cost-benefit yr ), 09-063 (14.91 kg yr ), and 09-044 (13.55 kg yr ) -1 ratio in the production cycle (Mahmoud 2013). which are found comparable to Cardaba (13.63 kg yr ). The least BWPA was recorded to 09-064 with 12.70 kg yr- The earliest onset of shooting was observed in accession 1. The computation of BWPA implies that 09-063, though 09-063 with an average of 286 days or 9.5 months and has the lowest bunch weight per harvest, can compensate was found statistically different from all other accessions. for the harvest of the typical Saba/Cardaba due to its early In the check cultivars Cardaba and Dippig, the average maturing characteristic. The accession 09-063 was not number of days to shoot were 409.94 and 385.90 days, significantly different from the check cultivar Cardaba respectively. A similar trend was observed in terms of the in terms of BWPA. Translating the computed BWPA into number of days from planting to harvest, other cultivars yield per hectare (14.91 * 1111 plants ha-1 = 16.56 tonnes are statistically the same except for 09-063. The average ha-1) show an increase in the average yield of Saba by days to harvest were as follows (earliest to latest): 09-063 2.56 tonnes compared to the baseline productivity of 14 (405 days), 09-044 (540 days), Dippig (541 days), 10-009 tonnes ha-1 (DA 2018). But regardless of height, Dippig (543 days), Cardaba (557 days), and 09-064 (567 days). yields the highest bunch weight per harvest and BWPA. Dippig and 10-009 may be recommended to farmers who Accession 09-063 (119 days) also had the shortest days wanted large bunches and bigger fruits not considering the from shooting to harvest. It was followed by 09-064 (142 disadvantage of planting tall and late-maturing varieties days) while the rest of the evaluated accessions displayed (i.e. wider planting distance, susceptibility to wind 148–159 days from shooting to harvest. Significant damage). However, planting early maturing cultivars differences were also found in the yield parameters have the advantage of having less time exposed to pest gathered such as bunch weight, number of hands, and and diseases, as well as abiotic stresses (i.e. typhoons, number of fingers as well as computed BWPA. In terms droughts, floods), which are expected to occur more of the bunch weight of the plant crop, Dippig yields the frequently in the future due to climate change. heaviest with 26.42 kg. It was followed by 10-009 (20.80 kg), Cardaba (20.79 kg), and 09-044 (20.03 kg) which is Breeding banana with improved traits is difficult through comparable to each other. Accession 09-064 (19.74 kg) conventional methods, as most cultivars are known to

Table 5. Mean values of agronomic and yield parameters of the selected promising accessions in replicated trial (n = 9). Parameters Cardaba Dippig 09-063 09-064 10-009 09-044 Height (m) 4.29 bc 4.50 c 3.13 a 4.34 bc 4.14 bc 3.92 b Girth (cm) 73.91 a 78.46 a 59.42 b 75.24 a 76.01 a 75.53 a Days to shooting 409.94 b 385.90 b 286.14 a 425.31 b 383.71 b 398.78 b Shooting to harvest 152.71 bc 155.07 bc 118.93 a 142.09 b 159.43 c 147.89 bc Days to harvest 556.90 b 540.97 b 405.08 a 567.40 b 543.14 b 539.56 b Bunch weight (kg) 20.79 bc 26.42 a 16.55 d 19.74 c 22.80 b 20.03 bc Number of hands 8.58 bc 9.33 ab 10.18 a 7.82 c 8.73 bc 9.20 ab Number of fingers 133.04 b 157.32 ab 178.65 a 126.76 b 140.80 b 155.40 ab Bunch weight per annum (kg) 13.63 bc 17.83 a 14.91 bc 12.70 c 15.32 b 13.55 bc *Means with the same letter in a row are not significantly different at α = 0.05. All measurements were taken from the main crop.

989 Philippine Journal of Science Gueco et al.: Naturally Occurring Short-statured Vol. 149 No. 3-a, October 2020 Saba Banana in the Philippines have high male and female sterility (Tripathi et al. 2007). by different growing conditions. Finally, this study had In the Philippines, conventional breeding programs in shown that clonal selection of naturally occurring genetic banana are lacking and development of individuals with variants from the farmer’s field presents a simple and desirable agronomic traits is often carried out through direct approach for the identification of improved banana induced mutations (Damasco et al. 2020; Jain 2010; varieties. This method can be used as an alternative Lamo et al. 2017). Aside from induced mutation, natural strategy for crop improvement. mutations also occur in the field, which can result in individuals harboring traits of interest. For example, the widely distributed Dwarf Cavendish (Ploetz et al. 2007) is reported to have been derived from a mutation from tall ACKNOWLEDGMENTS members of the Cavendish group (Constantine and Rossel The authors would like to thank the Department of 1999). Several other dwarf cultivars were described to Science and Technology – Philippine Council for have originated from natural mutation including Nanicão Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research (derived from Nanica) and Prata-Anã (a mutation from and Development for funding this research. Members of Branca) (Donadio et al. 2019), whereas Nanicão Corupá the administrative staff – Paulo Jerome M. Lopez, Maria and Prata-Catarina were clones from a selected natural Adisaz, Melanie Bacor, John Mark Barios, Aaron Javier, variation in the field. The subgroup (also Marlon Borja, Joel Evangelista, and Ceferino Evangelista called Kluai Namwa in and Lagkitan/Katali (retired) – are also acknowledged for various assistance locally) also have a wide range of diversity ranging from in conducting this research. Dwarf to Tall cultivars. As it is, an intensive evaluation of banana germplasm provides a simple and direct approach in identifying promising accessions/clones for cultivation. REFERENCES ARCHAK S, TYAGI RR, HARER PN, MAHASE LB, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION SINGH N, DAHIYA OMP et al. 2016. Characteriza- tion of chickpea germplasm conserved in the Indian A total of 19 Saba germplasm collections were characterized National Genebank and development of a core set and evaluated to identify and select accessions with short using qualitative and quantitative trait data. The Crop stature, reduced cropping period, and acceptable yield. Journal 4: 417–424. 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