Authors

A. K. Goswami, A. Nagaraja, Madhubala Thakre,

K. Usha & Nayan Deepak, G

Edited by

K. Usha & M.K. Verma

Division of Fruits and Horticultural Technology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute

New Delhi-110 012

2016

Guava

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) “The apple of tropics” is a hardy tree from tropical

America. It is one of the most delicious and popular fruit in tropical and subtropical region of

the world and as well as extensively grown in similar climatic regions of India. It has gained

a considerable place among the growers as well as consumers on account of its high nutritive

value with pleasant aroma, good flavour, availability at moderate price and round the year

availability. The high calorific value of guava fruits is an excellent choice among the middle

income group and hence it has achieved fame as “Poor man’s apple”. Guava fruit is relished

when mature or ripe and freshly plucked from the tree. Fruits may also be used for making

value added products like jam, jelly, cheese, juice, canned segments, nectar, R.T.S. beverage

etc. The pectin rich fruits make it an ideal choice for making jelly of excellent quality.

Successful guava cultivation provides very high returns to the growers and a scientifically

managed orchard is the key for success. Therefore, each and every activity required for guava

cultivation should be dealt on highest priority for earning handsome returns. A complete

month wise calendar of operations is described below to guide guava growers.

January

Harvest winter season crop. Guava fruits can be picked at mature-green stage (colour

change from dark- to light-green), having a pleasant

aroma and optimum size according to the variety.

Must avoid brushing and overcrowding of fruits in

pick boxes.

Try to harvest the fruit in morning hours.

Make sure that the overripe fruits should not be

mixed with mature fruits.

Packing in newspaper improves the colour and shelf life of fruits.

February

Continue harvesting of winter season fruits.

Prune of past season’s terminal growth to a length of

10-15 cm.

Pruning operations should be started in second fortnight of February and continue till first

week of March.

Remove intermingled branches, dead and diseased wood as well as broken stems.

Spray Copper oxychloride (2-3 %) after pruning and pasting of Bordeaux Paste on bigger

pruned branches.

March

Tillage of tree basin or hoeing in order to check the pest populations as the pupae are

destroyed by natural enemies.

Apply 25 kg of well rotten FYM.

Under North Indian conditions, old unproductive but

healthy trees can be rejuvenated by head back to 75 cm

from ground level or dehorned by cutting the secondary

branches at a distance of 75 cm from the origin.

Prune past season’s terminal growth to a length of 10-15

cm.

Spray Triazphos @ 2ml + neem oil 5 ml/lit to control mealy bugs.

April

It is the time to flowering of rainy season crops.

Crop regulation can be practiced during this month to

avoid rainy season crops which is poor in quality and

loaded with diseases and pests.

In North India, winter crop is preferred as the fruits escape

from fruit fly, which is more prevalent in rainy season,

and the crop is of higher quality.

The rainy season crop of guava can be restricted by

following means:

- hand thinning of flower is done during March-April;

- pruning of new shoots up-to one leaf pair in the month

of April-May has given good result;

- two sprays of NAA 800 ppm first at 50% anthesis

followed by second spray after 20 days or spraying of

Urea 8-10% is also recommended.

In general, spray of insecticide during flowering should be avoided. Because, it wash

away pollen grains as well as kill the pollinating insects

(Honey bee).

Spray borax 0.3% (Bo deficiency caused reduction in

size of leaves, fruit cracking as well as hardening of

fruits) during flowering and fruiting stage.

Fruit fly is one of the serious pests of guava which

deteriorates the fruits and makes the produce

unmarketable. Therefore, farmers are suggested to

manage this insect well in advance and at appropriate

time.

To control of fruit fly, hanging of Methyl Eugenol bottle

traps (10-15traps / hectare, containing 100 ml solution of 0.1% methyl Eugenol & 0.1%

Malathion) is recommended.

May

This month is crucial for fruit growth because summers are

generally drier and plants are under water stress and may lead to

poor fruit development. Therefore, irrigation should be given at

8-10 days interval.

If heavy infestation of pests occur then spray Quinalphos 25

EC at the rate of 2 ml/lit or Malathion 50 EC at the rate of 1

ml/lit or Monocrotophos 36 WSC @ 2ml/lit or neem oil 3 %.

Spraying should be done in early morning or late evening at least four

times at 21 days interval to avoid the heavy infestation of flies and others rainy season

pests.

June

Prepare land for establishment of new guava orchards as well as for gap filling.

Digging of pits done at a spacing of 3 x 3 m depending upon the orchards to be

established.

Pits are filled with FYM 10 kg, neem cake 1 kg and top soil + 50 g of 1.3% Lindane.

July

This month is ideal for planting, gap filling as well as for plant multiplication.

The guava layers or grafts are planted with the

ball of earth in the centre of pit of 45 cm x 45 cm

x 45 cm size.

Irrigate immediately after planting, again on

third day and afterwards once in 10 days or as and

when necessary.

To control anthracnose disease, spray

carbendazim (2 g/lit) on fruits and copper oxychloride

(3 g/lit) on leaves and twigs.

In old or established orchards, 0.3% borax sprays

to be done twice at 15 days interval.

Spray Quinalphos 25 EC at the rate of 2 ml/lit or

Malathion 50 EC at the rate of 1 ml/lit or

Monocrotophos 36 WSC @ 2 ml/lit or neem oil 3%.

Spraying should be done in early morning or late

evening at least four times at 21 days interval to prevent

the pest population.

For winter season crops, pre-flowering spray of

0.4% boric acid may enhance fruit size and yield.

Anthracnose is another important disease causing

huge losses to the crop. Spray of Bordeaux mixture

(3:3:50) or Copper oxychloride (0.3 %) just after

initiation of disease. To prevent post-harvest loss, dip the

fruits in 500 ppm tetracycline for 20 minutes.

Styler end rot is also affecting the crop adversely

which can be controlled by spraying Copper

oxychloride (0.3%) or Carbendazim or

Thiophonatemethyl (0.1%) before onset of fruiting.

However, care should be taken that no spraying is

done 15 days prior to harvesting.

August:

To check the carryover of the pest (fruit fly), collect and

destroy fallen and infested fruits along with fruit fly

maggots.

Borer is another important pest affecting the crop

adversely.

To prevent the infestation of pest, regular collection and

destructions of pests, spray of carbaryl (0.2%) or

ethophenprox (0.05%) at the beginning of fruiting season and before

ripening of fruits.

Arrangements should be made for 2-3 sprays of

micronutrient mixtures (2 ml/lit) having Zn, Cu, Mn, Fe,

B etc. at 10-12 days intervals from marble stage.

Wilt is a major serious problem affecting the crop very

adversely.

Management: Following practices are required for the

management of the disease

Disease can be kept under check by proper sanitation in

the orchard.

Before planting, the pits may be treated with formalin and kept covered for about 3 days

and transplanting should be done after two weeks. Add organic manures, oil cakes

and lime in pits.

While transplanting, roots of plants should not be damaged severely.

Timely and adequately manuring, intercultural operations and irrigation enable them to

withstand infection.

Use of rootstocks resistant to wilt could be an alternative effective method for the control

of disease. Cross of Psidium molle x P. guajava has been found free from wilt and this

material can be used as resistant root stock.

Biological control by Aspergillus niger strain AN-17 is also found effective.

Aspergillus niger-17 multiplied in FYM @ 5 kg/pit, applied in the pits while planting

new plants. In older plants Aspergillus niger enriched FYM can be applied @ 10 kg/

plant.

Wilted trees should be uprooted, burnt and trench should be dug around the tree trunk.

September:

Phytophthora fruit rot is also noticed in guava which can be controlled by spraying of

Dithane Z-78 (0.2%) or Ridomil or Aliette (0.2%) or

Copper oxychloride (0.3%).

Plant spacing and fertilizer regimes should be

managed to avoid unnecessarily dense plant

canopy.

To correct the boron deficiency (reduction in size

of leaves and fruit cracking and hardening) spray

0.3% borax during flowering and fruit set stage.

Pruning of past season’s terminal growth to a length of

10-15 cm is to be done induce lateral for production of winter

season crops.

October:

Second split doses of FYM 25 kg and 0.5 Kg each of N, P and K per tree has to be

applied.

To increase the yield, spray Urea 1% + Zinc

sulphate 0.5%.

Bagging is another important operation and

needs of the hour.

Bagging of fruits is an easy, cheaper and

viable technology, which can be easily adopted

by orchardist to get ripe guava even in winter

season and earn high premium.

Ripening and improvement in quality of guava can be achieved successfully by simple

newspaper bagging one month before harvest and reduce diseases and physical damage.

It should be done after 30 to 50 days of fruiting and fruit size is like ber (1.5 – 2 inches).

Irrigate copiously immediately after planting, again on third day and afterwards once in

10 days or as and when necessary.

Judicious thinning of shoots of headed back guava plants.

Pruning of past season’s terminal growth to a length of 10-15 cm is to be done.

November:

Weeding, hoeing and irrigation of guava orchards.

FYM along with SSP and MOP should be applied in the month of November-December

while urea should be applied in two split doses in the months of November and July.

Doses of fertilizers should be defined only after soil testing.

A dose 60 kg FYM, 1 kg urea, 2.5 kg SSP and half kg MOP can be applied to a plant of 6

years old and above. Or 75 gram N: 65 gram P2O5 and 50 gram K2O per plant per year

can be applied.

Since feeder roots of guava are found in the surface soil up to 25 cm depth, the fertilizer

should be placed in 25 cm trenches 1 m away from the tree trunk for better uptake.

December:

For protection of young plants from frost, irrigation should be given to new plants and

arrangement for covering the young tender plants with the help of straw or alkathane

sheets should be done.

Scaring of bird to protect the fruits from bird’s damage, regular irrigation.

Harvested fruits from different varieties should not be mixed so that the sorting, grading

and packaging can be practiced easily.

These harvested fruits should be kept in plastic crates and transported to the pack houses.

Proper grading should be done in shade and discard damage, cut and rotten fruits.

Immediately after harvesting of fruit, they should be first collected at shady place to

remove the orchard heat and thereafter washed and dried before storage.

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