Basics of Guava Cultivation - Shasyadhara Agriculture

Guava cultivation practice

Apple of tropics

Botanical name – Psidium guajava L.
Family – Myrtaceae.
Origin – Tropical America (Grown wild form in Mexico to Peru).
Chromosome – Number – X = 11, 2n = 22, 33.
Edible part – Thalamus and pericarp.
Fruit type – Berry
Commercial method of propagation Stooling, Inarching.
Basic chromosome No. – 11

Chemical composition

Water – 80 – 82 %
Protein – 0.7 – 1 %
CHO – 11 – 13 %
Fat – 0.5 %
Acid – 2.4 %
Average ascorbic acid (Vit – C) = 23 – 486 mg/100gm fresh fruit.
Guava is a good source Vit – A, B1, B2, C, Fe, Ca and Phosphorus.

Soil and climate

Soil

Favorable soil: loamy clay to light sandy soil.
Soil pH: 4.5 to 8.2.

Climate

It is grown in tropical and subtropical region.
Height: 1500 m M. S. L.
Favorable night temperature: 100 °C.
Annual rainfall: 100 cm or 1000 mm.
Propagation
Commercial method: seeds for orchard.
Through seed propagation: the propagation of guava should not be in coverage
because it gives lower yield and bear poor quality fruits.
Soaking of seed in water for 12 hours or in HCL for 3 minutes gives 90 %
germination.
One year old seedlings becomes ready for grafting and budding.

Crop regulation in guava

Flowering time Harvesting time

Ambe bahar: February-March (spring) July-September (Rainy season)
Mrig bahar: June-July (Rainy), November-January (winter season)
Hasth bahar: October-Novmber (winter) February-April.

Fruits are excellent in quality and guava trees are forced to produce – Mrig
bahar.

Plant propagation

Vegetative methods

In Northern India guava is propagated by narching

Budding

Forket or patch budding is useful in guava.
It is adopted where atmosphere humidity is high.

Layering

It is commercially adopted in southern and western India.
Application of growth regulator: IBA and NAA @ 5000 ppm gives better
result.

Stooling

It is the easiest and cheapest method of guava propagation.

It is practiced for quick multiplication of root stick.
Cutting
Soft wood or semi hard wood cutting with the application of IBA or NAA @ 250
ppm gives better result.
Grafting
Inarching is quick commercial and highly successful in guava.
Veneer grafting also shows better result (80 % successful.)

Cultivation

Planting

Pit size: 1×1×1 m.
Planting system: square system.
Planting distance: 5 to 8 m.
High density planting in guava is not recommended.

Training and pruning

No pruning is done in guava.
Training of plants in young stage is done to give strong frame wall.
Pruning is usually recommended after harvesting or in spring.

Manure and fertilizer

NPK for Northern region: 600: 400: 600 gm/tree/year.
Eastern region: 260: 320: 260 gm/tree/year.
Southern region: 900: 600: 600 /tree/year.
Western region: 600: 300: 300 gm/tree/year.
Deficiency of ‘Zn’ reduce leaf size, interveinal chlorosis and dieback of leaders
and it can be corrected by application of ZnSo4 @ 0.45 kg in 33 lit of water.
Bronzing is caused by deficiency of B, Zn, N, P, K and low pH.
Soluble P (Phosphorus) in leaves is better index for bronzing.

Irrigation

Guava is mostly grown under rainfed conditions.

Irrigation is given 15-20 days interval in summer and 30 days in winter.
After care
Weeds are removed by shallow cultivation.
Green manuring should be done during rainy season.
Leguminous crop can be grown in first 3 years.
Fruit quality of the winter crop is best over the rainy season crop.
Practice of taking winter crop instead of rainy season crop is known as crop
regulation.

Flowering

Guava flowers all the year near the equator.

In India guava flowering in northern India – 2 times, other parts of India – 3
times.
The best quality fruits are obtain from September-October flowering.
Heaviest yield is obtained from April-May flowering.

Flowering set

Fruit set is high in guava
Heavy fruit drop about 30-50 % fruits may reach harvest maturity
Fruit drop can be controlled by spraying of GA3 15-30 ppm in the month of
January reduce fruit drop.

Fruit growth

Guava fruits show a “double sigmoid growth curve”.
Parthenocarpy is not common in guava.
Parthenocarpy can be induced in guava by spraying the fruits with Gibberlic
acid.

Varieties

L-49

Known as Sardar Guava.

It is a chance seedling selection from “Allahabad Safeda” in 1927 at Ganesh
Khind fruit research station, Pune. By G.S, Cheema and Deshmukh.
L-49 are tolerant to guava wilt.
T. S. S and Vitamin C are very high.

Allahabad safed

Most popular variety of U.P (Allahabad)
High T. S. S and Vitamin C.

It can with stand drought.

Apple colour

Fruits are pink colour.
They require for development of good pink colour.

Arka mridula

It is seedling selection of Allahabad Safeda.

Allahabad round

Parthenocarpic variety.
Arka Amulya

It is a cross between Allahabad Safed × seedless

Baruipur

Important variety of West Bengal.

Chittidar

Harvesting

Harvesting through out the year. (Except May and June).
Pick harvesting period for rainy season crop is August.
For winter season: November-December
For spring season: March-April.
For local market harvesting are done at fully yellow stage.
For distant market: half yellow stage.
The plant starts bearing after 2-3 years of age.
Fall bearing capacity is 8-10 years.
Ripening of guava increases in rainy season due to high temperature and slow
down in winter season due to low temperature.

Post harvest management

Shelf life of guava can be increased up to 20 days by keeping them at low temp.
(5 °C) and Relative humidity (75-85 %).
Note
Bearing starts from seeds 5 to 6 years.
Vegetative method: 2 to 3 years.
Economic yield: 8 to 10 years.

Yield

On an average a tree may yield: 100 to 350 kg/year/tree
About 1000 fruits/tree of 10 year old.

Miscellaneous

Guava fruits can be stored for 4 weeks at 8-10 °C and 80-90 % humidity.
Guava wilt is most common in alkali soils (pH: 7.5-9.0)
Fungi associated with guava wilt are Acrophobia spp., Fusarium sp. and
Cephalosporium sp.
Favorable pH for spread of guava wilt is 7.5-9.0 since fungus cannot grow
at pH below 4.5 and above 8.6, thus management of this disease is to keep soil
pH between this ranges.
Anthracnose in guava is caused by Colletotrichum psidi.
Apple colour variety of guava is tolerant to anthracnose.
Guava canker is caused by a fungus- Diploid netalensis.
Fruit mumification is observed in plants affected with guava wilt.
Insect-pests and disease

Insects

Fruit fly

It is one of the the major pest of guava.
Control: spraying with dimethoate @ (0.03 %) or Malathion (0.05%) are useful.

Guava scale

It is also another serious pest of guava.
The honey dew excreted by the scales.
Control: spraying with Ethion (0.04 %) or Lamate (0.05 %).
Releases of predatory beetle (Cryptolaemus monorouzierii) are effective.

Diseases

Guava wilt.

Causal organism is Fusarium roseum oxysporum f. psidi
Wilt is the most serious disease of guava.
It is a fungal disease.

A guava orchard of more than 30 years is not possible because most of its plant
die above 20 years age due to wilting.

Control: drenching the soil with Brassicol.
Spraying the plant with Bavistin (0.1%)
Growing of resistant root stock e.g. Banarsi, Dholka, Sind, Nasik, Supreme.

Anthracnose

Causal organism: Gleosporium psidi.
The effected plants begin to die back from top of the branch.

Control: spraying the trees with Difolation or Dithan Z-78.

Fruit rot

Causal organism: Phytopthora nicotianae
Develop of dark brown circular spot at the blossom end of immature green
fruit.

Control: application of Dithan Z – 78 (0.2 %) is effective.

Mixed

U.P is the largest guava producing state in India.
Strawberry guava/cattleya guava (P. Cattleionum) is considered as an important
species for use as a root stock.
Pineapple guava/feijoa is scientifically known as Feijoa sellowiana belongs to
guava family.
Brazilian guava /Guinea guava (Psidium guineens) has small fruit with poor
fruit quality.
Mountain guava, P. mountanum is a shrub about 1.5 m high with flat branches.
Chines guava, P. friedrichasthalianum isa dwarfing root stock and is resisitant
to guava wilt.

Fruit of Psidium pomiferum is apple shaped and that of P. pyriferum as pear
shaped.
The trees of P. Catteianum var. lucidum are large in size and are resistant to wilt.
L-49 (Sardar guava) is a Chance seedling selection from “Allahabad safeda” in
1927 made at Ganesh Phind fruit research station Pune by G.S Cheema and
Deshmukh.
L-49 are tolerant to guava wilt.
Kohir safed: (Kohir × Allahabad safed) and safed Jam developed at
Sangareddy, A.P.
Guava is generally trained to modified leader system.
Vitamin C content is the highest in fruit peel at mature stage.
Seedlessness in guava is attributed to autoploidy (seedless are 2n = 3x = 33)
and not as the result of parthenocarpic fruit development.
Guava is climatric fruit and botanically fruit is a berry.
Guava bears flower solitary or in cyme of two or three flower on the current
season growth on the axil of the leaves.
Chemicals recommended in guava for blossom thinning are, NAA, NAD and 2,4-D.
Bahar treatment in guava is achieved by the application of NAA @ 400 – 800
ppm or Ethephon @ 1000 – 1500 ppm or urea (15- 20%) following may
pruning (heading back)
Psidium cattleianum is good for quality P. pumilum for dwarfing and P.
cattleinum var. lucidum and seedless against guava wilt for breeding.