Bharat Moni: A promising Musa cultivar of Assam, India

Bharat Moni cultivar of Musa has been reported as indigenous to Assam, India which is less exploited so far. It is one of the most liked cultivars of Banana due to its unique taste and flavour. Its male buds and the pseudostem are also eaten and liked by the local people. In the present study, the morphological and molecular characterization of Bharat Moni cultivar of Musa sp. collected from four districts i.e., Biswanath, Charaideo, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur of Assam, India were carried out. The morphological study was carried out as per the ‘Descriptors for banana (Musa spp.) IPGRI’. The molecular characterization was done using the genomic DNA isolated from its cigar leaves. Bharat Moni banana was found to be of ABB group as per the authentic score cards system. Though, it takes comparatively longer harvesting time (480-495 days) but fetches a higher market value and people’s preference than other popular cultivars. The fruits of Bharat Moni are very sweet in taste and delicious with a characteristic aroma and unique peel characteristic in terms of adherence to the flash. The average yield was found to be 13-15 fruits per hand in a lax pattern. The average weight of a bunch with 5-7 hands of fruits was 13 to 14 Kg and single hand weighed 1.7 to 1.9 kg approximately. It is the most preferred and promising banana cultivar of horticultural importance of Assam, India thus large scale cultivation under optimum conditions may enhance state’s economy considerably.