Biomass and carbon stock estimation inventory of Indonesian bananas (Musa Spp.) and its potential role for land rehabilitation

Abstract

Bananas (Musa spp.) are widely cultivated in Indonesia. They are extensively grown in backyards, home gardens, intercroppedwith short termcrops and also in agroforestry system.The potential of bananas to sequester carbon has been reported but there is limited knowledge on the performance of various cultivars. An inventory of biomass and C-stock estimation on banana accessions has been conducted inMusa germplasmplots -PurwodadiBotanicGarden, Pasuruan. Estimation on biomass and C-stock have been conducted for 42 individual banana accessions, comprised 5 wild banana species and 37 cultivars using non-destructive method i.e. allometric equation for banana. The objectives of this study were to conduct inventory on the biomass and C-stock estimation of Indonesian bananas in germplasm collection of Purwodadi Botanic Garden, to make the projections of time average above ground for Cstock of banana farming systemin Indonesia and to discuss the potential role of bananas in land rehabilitation. The results showed that estimation value of biomass andC-stock varied fromone banana accession to another.WildMusa balbisiana species had higher biomass and C-stock value than wildMusa acuminata species. Banana cultivars containing one or two "B" genome (ABBandAAB)weremore vigorous and contributed higher biomass and C-stock thanAAA and AA cultivars. Among cultivars, the highest C-stock was contributed by Pisang Kepok Bung (average of 6.92 kg C/plant) whereas the lowest C-stock was contributed by Pisang Rayap (average of 0.67 kg C/plant). In average, various Indonesian bananas studied contributed around 2.26 kg C/plant or 0.98 tonnes C/ha. The growing area of bananas increased from 73,539 ha in 2000 to 101,822 ha in 2010, which was decreased to 100,600 ha in 2014, contributing C-stock around 72.28 tonnes C in 2000 increasing to 100.07 tonnes C in 2010 with a decrease to 98.97 tonnes C in 2014. These numbers are still limited only to the recorded areas. Banana plants in combination with woody tree crops, are potential as important component of agroforestry, home gardens andmixed farming systems to rehabilitate and reforest landscape, to decrease carbon emission in atmosphere in the form of biomass and Cstocks and tomeet the economic needs for local surrounding community.