Intercropping of Several Cultivars of Banana and Plantain under Coconut Based in North Sulawesi, Indonesia

The Research has been conducted in Pandu Experimental Garden, Talawaan Bantik Village, North Sulawesi, titled “Intercropping of Several Cultivars of Banana and Plantain under Coconut Based in North Sulawesi, Indonesia”. The aims of the research were to study suitability of several banana and plantain intercropped into coconut based farming system. The materials and methods used were monoculture coconut plantation, hybrid Khina-1 planted in 1986, designed in RCBD, 5 treatments were the banana and plantain cultivars Mas, Gapi, Gepok Tanjung, Goroho and Raja. Then the Least Significant Difference Test (LSD) was used for mean separations. Significantly, was determined at the p =0.05 probability level. In this experiment also, using t-test to compare the effect of natural shade of the coconut canopy with an open field for the five varieties tested. Then, using 20 plants for each variety and treatment, served as replication. Two dwarf cultivars, Mas (banana) and Goroho (plantain) indicated the significant vegetative and generative growth shorter than the three tall cultivars, Gapi, Gepok Tanjung and Raja. It is also concluded that coconut based using Hybrid Khina-1 varieties, spacing 8m x 8m square system is suitable for intercropping with banana and plantain, especially the Dwarf Mas and Goroho.