Abstract
The correlation between rates of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers applied and their soil penetrability was investigated in a mature banana plantation on a sceletie brown Grumusol soil deficient in P and K. Eighteen months after the second application of the fertilizers there was an average increase of 48 percent in banana yields. In order to ensure fertilizer penetration to the root zone such a soil requires at least 1200 kg/ha of potassium chloride and 1600 kg/ha of superphosphate (24·6 per cent P).
