Guava cultivation can be a very beneficial agribusiness in India. Here is the complete information on starting a guava plantation in India with complete details on guava varieties in India, planting guava seeds, plantation management, harvesting, and post harvest handling practices. Even though, native to tropical America, India has established it as the largest Guava (Psidium guajava) producing countries in the world (as per the 2016 data source). It ranks 4th in following mangoes, bananas, and citrus. some of the leading states in India that grow guava fruit are there Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Orissa apart from Punjab and Haryana. The major countries import guava from India include the US, UAE, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Kuwait.
Climatic Requirements for Guava Cultivation
Best grown in the tropical and subtropical region up to 1500 mt. above sea level;
| Temperature | Rainfall | Soil |
| 15–30° C | 100 cm | While the hardy crop offers the best productivity when grown in sandy loam/clay loam well drained soil, it equally grows well in any class of poor to alkaline soil types. The range of the pH level of the soil should be within 6.5 to 7.5 |
Guava Varieties in India
There are different varieties of guava available in India for commercial cultivation of guava.
1. L-49 /Lucknow-49: It takes greenish-yellow fruits with a smooth surface and milky-white sweet pulps. The skin is relatively thick and having the smallest amount of soft seeds in the core. Due to sweetness and less number of seeds they are highly demanding in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. It’s the potential to yield 25 tons /ha.
2. Allahabad Safeda: This variety of guava grows round shaped, white flavorsome flesh, soft skin, and weighing 180-200 grams with medium size. The expected yield is 20-25 tons and has greater stability.
3. Lalit: Fruits grow in saffron yellow color with a reddish flush on the body while pulps are solid and pinkish. It’s ideal for table and processing. With the potential to produce as high as 100-125 kg per/ plant annually, Lalit is categorized as the largest yield producing in its group.
4. Arka Mridula: This type of guava fruit is round shaped and weight nearly 180g. Having yellow skin and plum is white and sweet.
5. Sweta: Fruits have thick skin and weighing nearly 200-225g on average. The pulp is snow white and combines sugar and acid.
6. Chittidar: it’s several similarities to Allahabad Safeda and is differentiated with their chromatic dots on the pinhead point of the fruit surface.
Aside from the above, guava grows in prolific varieties including Harijha, Red Fleshed, Punjab pink, Sardar, Baruipur, KG guava, and hybrids like Kohir Sofeda, Akra Amulya, etc. There is some popular foreign breed also for guava plantation like Taiwan guava.
Propagation of Guava Plant
Air layering or stooling procedure has been an affordable way to propagate guava plants. In fact, growing guava plants from seeds is not only challenging but mostly results in poor fruit quality and yield. All you have to do to make your asexual reproduction (vegetative propagation) truly productive is the proper choosing of plants that produce high-quality fruits that help propagate new plants having the attributes of the mother plant. currently select branches of a pencil diameter that shouldn’t be close to any joining part. Peel the branch skin measuring of 2″ length. Drench the peeled area with a rooting substance like NAA 500 PPM OR IBA 500 ppm.
Use moist moss on it and then wrap it with a polythene sheet. Both ends should be kept open. once 20-25 days root with grows from the cutting branch. July to September is the appropriate time to undertake layering.
Guava Plantation Management
Nursery Management for Guava Plantation :
Plant the seedlings within the nursery bed or pot and water often to grow as single plants with recent branches and new leaves. The seedling is now set for planting.
Land Preparation and Planting :
The land should be prepared during the dry days through plough, leveling, and weeding. Dig pits measuring 1mx1mx1m before the monsoon begins. Fill each hole with Neem Cake @15 Kg, farmyard manure @ 25 Kg, SSP@500 gram, Lindane powder@ 50 gram together with soil for needed fertilization as well as avoid termite invasion. Showing needs to be done during Aug – September for optimal results. (February and March are also chosen for planting). Maintain a sowing depth of 25-30 cm.
Spacing in Guava Plantation :
The suitable planting distance of 5-8 meters depending on the type of guava species, soil fertility, and watering facility, maintaining a standard spacing of 6m x 6m with 112 plants per acre is the best choice that helps plants grow and maximize yield potential.
Pruning and Training :
Pruning and training should be given special importance to produce guava plants with a resilient framework capable to support higher yield. Pruning should be practiced on a regular basis to discard the infected, diseased, and dead branches. However, avoid pruning during summer to protect the budding plants from sunburn. When guava seedlings grow, provide the necessary support to let them stand upright with their strong stem. In order to check weed growth consider spraying plants with Gramoxone@5ml /liter of water/ per acre during March, July, and September. 200Ltr is adequate to spray one-acre land.
Inter-Cropping Option in Guava Plantation :
Cultivators can opt for inter-cropping during the first 3-4 years to produce legumes crops such as beans, grams, or vegetables like carrot, radish, okra, etc. and earn before getting the yield from the principal plant guava.
Fertilizing
Typically, cropping land should be fertilized to meet the nutritional requirements of plants as they keep on growing. A standard is given below
| Age | Cow Dung | Urea | SSP | MOP |
| Kg | (Grams per plant) | |||
| 1 | 15 | 220 | 250 | 170 |
| 2 | 20 | 425 | 500 | 340 |
| 3 | 25 | 650 | 750 | 510 |
| 4 | 30 | 850 | 1000 | 680 |
| 5 | 30 | 1080 | 1250 | 850 |
Depending on the soil fertility level if required, cultivators can consider another dosage from 7-10 years of the plants to fertilize with Cow dung @30-40 kg, Urea @1000-1250 grams, SSP @1500-2000 grams, and MOP @1200-1500 grams per tree.
Apply 50% of the dose in May-June and the remaining 50% in September-October
To produce better yield, consider spraying the plants with Zinc Sulphate @4gram + Boric Acid @2gram per liter of water and Urea@2% during their fruiting period.
Irrigation for Guava Cultivation
Guava shows better growth under rainfed weather conditions, however, draining is equally essential. It Depend on the type of climate, during the dry season, irrigate the plants weekly once whereas in the winter, maintain an interval of 3 weeks. Drip irrigation is suitable for better plant growth and void fungus infestation.
Pest Control in Guava Cultivation
|
Pest |
Affect | Control |
| Fruit fly | fruit fly is an extremely scary pest to destroy guava that sucks fruits, rots them that leads to dropping. | Remove infested fruits and spray plants with Fenvalerate@60ml in 100Ltr of water/ 1 acre before the fruit ripening season comes and provide in weekly intervals. |
| Mealy bug | Suck juice from different parts of the plant and weaken them. | Once observed control the pest attack with Chlorpyriphos 50EC @350ml/100 liter water and spray plants spreading per hectare land. |
| Shoot borer | Typically found in the nursery or in the seedling stage, the pest used to infest plant shoots and causes drying. | To control, make use of Quinalphos@400ml/Chlorpyriphos@500ml mix with 100 litre water per acre and spray. |
Disease and Management in Guava Plantation
| Disease | Symptoms | Management |
| Wilt | Very severe disease of Guava plant that causes wilting and yellowing of leaves and causes drying the plant due to fast infestation. | Make sure that the field is properly drained, and in case of flooding, pump out logged water without delay. Remove already infected and destroyed plants from the cropping land and drench the soil with Carbendazim@25gmor Copper oxychloride@30gm per 10Ltr of water and spray. |
| Dieback or Anthracnose | Black or brown are typically noticed on plant shoots as well as on fruits. Dieback is a rapidly growing disease that can rot fruits just in 2/3 days once infected. | Discard fruits even those having 1% infection to avoid an epidemic. Keep the land well cleaned and avoid waterlogging under all circumstances. Undertake a pruning session and use spray Captan@300gm mix with 100Ltr water. Continue to spray those plants and infested areas of the plant for 15 days without any interruption. A spray of Copper oxychloride@40gm/10Ltr water can also be considered to drench infected trees. |
| Aphid | A common pest of Guava plantation that sucks the juice within the plant and dries them. Infestation deforms young leaves while curing them. | For perfect management, fresh leaves need to be sprayed with Methyl Demeton@20ml or Dimethoate@20ml/ 10Ltr. |
Harvesting in Guava Plantation
Depending on the variety of guava, generally, cultivators find plants to carry fruits from 2-3 years of ageing, however, the vast majority attain their pick productivity point at the age of 7-10 years. Consider the maturity of the guava with their color and decide if they’re ripened enough to be harvested. Cultivators depending on the local market can go for harvesting as the fruits become fully matured while for distance marketplaces, fruits should be picked prior to their fully ripened stage. Guava should be collected from plants together with their stalks and leaves.
Post Harvesting in Guava Cultivation
Grading
Grade according to color, weight, and size.
Storage
Fruits can be stored for 7-10 days at 18°-23° C in polybags with ventilation of 0.25%. To extend shelf-life up to 20 days, harvested fruits require a low temperature of about 5°-6º C with 75-85% relative humidity.
Uses of Guava Fruit
The fruit is highly rich in vitamin C, folic acid, dietary fiber, and essential nutrients. Guava contains vitamin four times higher than an orange. It is also a balanced source of pectin, calcium, and phosphorous. It gives great nutritional value and low-cost, it is used widely in food processing industries to making demanding products like jelly, jam, nectar. It is also used in the preparation of juice, sources, ice-cream, puddings, and cakes.
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