An experiment was carried out in the Jaíba Agro-industrial District, located in Matias Cardoso, Minas Gerais, to evaluate the effect of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium fertilization on 'Prata Anã' banana production and quality. The experiment consisted of ten treatments with compound fertilizers using a baconian matrix (1: 250-45-700, 2: 250-25-700, 3: 250-70-700, 4: 250-100-700, 5: 250-45-300, 6: 250-45-500, 7: 250-45-1000, 8: 150-45-700, 9: 400-45-700, 10: 600-45-700 g/shoot of N, P and K, respectively, in which the first treatment includes the reference doses used by the region's banana growers). The treatments were arranged in a randomized block design with four repetitions. After the first production cycle began, banana bunches were harvested, hands were dehanding and the number of hands and fruits, the weight of bunches, average weight of hands and fruits, and diameter and total and commercial fruit lengths were measured. Results indicated that average doses of nitrogen or phosphorous used by the banana growers of Jaíba Agro-industrial District can be reduced by 150 or 25 g/shoot without harming fruit production and quality characteristics. On the other hand, increasing the potassium dose to 1000 g/shoot, applied weekly, will lead to a significant increase in average weight and total and commercial lengths of fruits.
Musa spp.; mineral nutrition; fruit quality
