Soil fertility, plant mineral nutrition and productivity of irrigated banana for a ten-year period

The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in soil fertility, in plant mineral nutrition and in the productivity of banana irrigated for a ten-year period. The experiment was carried out in an Oxisol, from 1997 to 2007, in the county of Janauba, Minas Gerais, Brazil, in a commercial banana 'Prata-Ana' (AAB) plantation, where water from a tubular deep-well - containing high salinity and medium concentration of sodium - was used for drip irrigation. The use of irrigation for ten years promotes a sharp rise in pH and in soil electrical conductivity, and causes nutrient imbalances, which limits the productivity of banana. The foliar levels of macro and micronutrientes remain above the reference values for the culture.