Pest status of certain Musa cultivars of Kerala with special reference to infestation by Odoiporus longicollis [Olivier] and genome constitution of the cultivars

Almost all the 30 cultivars described here are Commercially Non Viable (CNV) and among them their genome constitution are 3 AA, 2 AAA, 4 AB, 16 AAB and 5 ABB. Under the field condition these 30 cultivars did not show any infestation by Odoiporus longicollis because there was abundance of Commercially Viable (CV) and highly pest susceptible cultivars in their vicinity. Mother weevils are highly selective in choosing cultivars for oviposition and those which possessed least amount of defensive secondary metabolites are selected. Rearing of O. longicollis larvae in the live pseudostem of the Musa cultivars has resulted either survival with pupation and were termed as non preferred (NP) and susceptible (S) or no pupation but mortality and were termed as resistant (R). Among the 30 cultivars of Musa, 16 are resistant to infestation by O. longicollis and 6 are Non preferred (NP) and 8 are susceptible. No highly pest susceptible cultivar was identified among the 30 cultivars. All the five ABB cultivars identified are starchy cooking type and ripe fruits do not possess pleasing taste. Among the 16 AAB cultivars identified, 10 cultivars possessed high genome constitution score, near to ABB were also starchy cooking type and other 6 were very sweet when ripe. The sap from immature fruit bunch of Karayannan (AB) is a folk-lore remedy against ulcer of the oral cavity. Each of the 30 edible Musa cultivars is unique in floral characters, vegetative parts and fruit bunch in particular to taste and aroma of the fruit. Hence a concerted efforts are needed for the conservation of these wonderful group of plants.