Guava Fruit Farming in India
Common Name of the fruit crop: Guava
Scientific Name: Psidium guajava
Local Name: Amruth
Geographical Distribution of Guava in India:
Area wise and State wise Guava production and productivity:
| State-wise Area, Production and Productivity of Guava in India during 2017-2018 | |||
| Area (‘000 ha) | Production (‘000 MT) | Productivity (MT/ha) | |
| Andhra Pradesh | 9.53 | 229.78 | 24.12 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0.12 | 0.22 | 1.89 |
| Assam | 4.43 | 96.69 | 21.84 |
| Bihar | 27.61 | 427.61 | 15.49 |
| Chhattisgarh | 21.89 | 197.18 | 9.01 |
| Gujarat | 12.67 | 169.57 | 13.38 |
| Haryana | 12.09 | 137.02 | 11.33 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 2.32 | 2.61 | 1.12 |
| J&K | 2.34 | 7.77 | 3.33 |
| Jharkhand | 8.32 | 89.31 | 10.73 |
| Karnataka | 7.18 | 140.23 | 19.52 |
| Kerala | 0.16 | 1.42 | 8.77 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 35.08 | 686.7 | 19.58 |
| Maharashtra | 9.07 | 122.83 | 13.55 |
| Mizoram | 0.42 | 2.55 | 6.07 |
| Nagaland | 0.58 | 4.75 | 8.16 |
| Odisha | 14.27 | 105.04 | 7.36 |
| Punjab | 8.69 | 195.6 | 22.5 |
| Rajasthan | 4.33 | 55.13 | 12.73 |
| Sikkim | 1.21 | 17.6 | 14.53 |
| Tamil Nadu | 9.69 | 155.06 | 16 |
| Telangana | 2.56 | 38.74 | 15.14 |
| Tripura | 0.7 | 3.4 | 4.85 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 49.53 | 928.44 | 18.75 |
| Uttarakhand | 3.62 | 20.37 | 5.63 |
| West Bengal | 16.25 | 215.2 | 13.24 |
| Others | 0.2 | 2.73 | 13.98 |
| India | 264.85 | 4053.51 | 15.3 |
Preferred climatic conditions and seasons for Guava farming:
Guava is grown in both tropical and subtropical regions up to 1500 meters above mean sea level. The plant can tolerate high temperatures and drought conditions that are prevalent in north India during summer seasons. However, Guava plants are susceptible to severe frost as it can kill the young plants. Annual rainfall of about 100 centimeters is sufficient during the rainy season (July-September). Rainfall during the harvesting stage deteriorates the quality of fruits.
Popular varieties and Hybrids of Guava with characteristics:
State-wise List of Guava varieties
Southern India Guava varities
Andhra Pradesh: Guava cultivars like Lucknow-49, Anakapalli, Banarasi, Chittidar, Hafshi, Safed Jam, Allahabad-safed, Sardar, Smooth Green and Arka Mridula are the major grown varieties.
Karnataka: Varities like Araka Mridula, Araka Amulya, Bangalore, Dharwar followed by Assam Am Sophri, Madhuri Am, Allahabad Safeda, L-49, Safrior Payere are famous in Karnataka state.
Tamil Nadu: Guava varieties like Banarasi, Bangalore, Chittidar, Hafshi, Nagpur Seedless, Anakapalli, Smooth Green are the famous cultivars in Tamil Nadu.
Northern India Guava varieties
Madhya Pradesh: Allahabad safeda, Gwalior-27L-49, Hafshi, Seedless Chittidar are the famous guava varieties in the MP area.
Jharkhand: Allahabad safeda and L-49 only.
Bihar and Jharkhand: In this state, guava cultivars like Chittidar, Hafshi, Harijha, Sardar, Selection-8, Allahabad Safeda, Apple Colour is famous.
Gujarat and Maharashtra: In these two states, Guava varieties like Dholka, Kothrud, L-24, L-49, Nagpur seedless, Dharwar, Nasik, Sindh are mostly grown.
North-eastern States: Guava cultivars like Sardar Allahabad Safeda and Red Fleshed.
Uttar Pradesh: Allahabad Surkha, Sardar, Mirzapuri Seedless, CISH-G-1, CISH-G-2 L-49, Allahabad Safeda, Lucknow Safeda, Apple Colour, Chittidar, Red Fleshed and CISH-G-3.
West Bengal: Guava cultivars like Dudhe Khaja, Gole Khaja, Kabli, Baruipur, L-49, Allahabad Safeda, ,Chittidar, Harijha, Sardar are grown.
Agronomic practices for Guava farming
Field preparation in Guava cultivation: Land preparation is done during the summer season. It is done as ploughing, harrowing, leveling and weeding.
Seed rate and seed treatment for Guava planting: As the guava plants are vegetative propagated, budding, inarching or air layering methods are used for their multiplication and planting.
Spacing in Guava orchard: Guava trans-plants are usually planted at a distance of 5m to 8 m. However, the exact planting distance varies with the variety, soil fertility and availability of irrigation facilities in an area.
Training and Pruning: Training of plants in the young stage is essential for a stronger framework and to avoid weak crotches of plants. Prune the fruiting trees to check overcrowding within the orchard. Train the headed trees to facilitate multiple hand pickings. However, pruning is usually recommended after harvesting or during the spring season. Even though, avoid summer pruning as the plants get damaged due to sunburn.
Intercultural operations: Remove the weeds in shallow cultivation. Green manuring is followed during the rainy season. Pre-emergence use of herbicides like diuron@1.6 kg/ha., oryzalin@1.67 lt/ha., simazine@1.6 kg/ha. or atrazine@1.6 kg/ha. found to control the weeds in guava fruit farming.
Mulching in Guava orchard: Mulching material like dry leaves or straw are commonly used. However, mulching is also done either with black polyethylene sheet or organic materials. Mulching the soil at least two times a year helps in conserving moisture and improving the fruit quality.
Inter-cropping in Guava farm: Leguminous crops or vegetable crops are best intercrops to grow during the first three years of planting only when irrigation facility is available.
Fertilizer application in various Guava growing regions:
Time of fertilizer application varies with the region and crop variety. In northern India, fertilizer is applied in the first week of May for a rainy season crop and in the first week of July for winter season crop and the plants are manured twice a year, firstly during June-July and secondly during October. A fertilizer dose of 600g. N, 400g. K in the Northern Region, 260g. N, 320g. P and 260g. K in Eastern Region, 900g. N, 600g. P and 600g. K in the Southern Region and 600g. N, 300g. P and 300g. K/plant /year in the Western Region are recommended for higher yields in Guava cultivation.
Irrigation practices and critical stages: As Guava is mostly grown under rainfed conditions, irrigation is provided in the winter season a t20-25 day’s intervals and in the summer months it is provided at 10-15 days interval following ring irrigation method. However, drip irrigation has proved to be very beneficial for guava cultivation. About 60% of the water used for irrigation is saved in guava drip irrigation. In addition, a substantial increase in size and number of fruits is also observed.
Harvesting and Post harvesting management in Guava cultivation:
Harvesting of Guava
The plants start bearing at an early age of 2 to 3 years, however, they attain full bearing capacity at the age of 8 to 10 years. Though the yield of a plant depends on its age, cropping pattern and cultural practices. A 10-year-old guava plant yields about 100 to 150 kg of fruits every year. When we consider rainy and winter season crops, more yields are obtained in the rainy season. Fruits are harvested throughout the year (except during May and June months) in one or the other region of the country. The peak harvesting periods in northern India are August for rainy season crop, November and December months for winter season crop and March-April months for spring season fruits. In the mild climatic conditions in the rest of the country, the peak harvesting periods are not so distinct.
Guava fruits develop the best flavor and aroma when they ripen only on trees. In most of the commercial guava varieties, the fruit stage ripeness is indicated by the color development which is usually yellow. For local guava marketing, fully yellow but firm fruits are harvested, whereas half yellow fruits are picked for selling in distant markets. Fruits are harvested selectively by hand plucking with the stalk and leaves.
Post-harvest management in Guava farming
Grading in Guava: Fruits are graded based upon their size, weight, and color.
Guava storage facilities: The fresh guava fruits have a short shelf life and distant marketing can be done only if they are properly stored. The shelf life can be extended up to a period of 20 days by keeping them at a low temperature of 50 C and 75-85% relative humidity. However, they can be stored for about 10 days at room temperature (ranging 180C-230 C) in polybags providing a 0.25%ventilation.
Packing of Guava fruits:
The fruits are packed in cartons or crates made from locally available plant materials. For selling the guava at peak at distant markets, wooden or corrugated fiberboard boxes are used along with cushioning materials such as paddy straw, dry grass, guava leaves or rough paper cuttings. A good ventilation facility is necessary to check the build-up of heat. As Guava is a delicate fruit, it requires careful handling during harvesting and transportation. Guavas being perishable in nature are immediately sent after harvesting to the nearest local markets and only a small quantity of Guavas are sent to the distant markets.
Marketing of Guava in India:
The majority of the guava farmers sell their produce either through trade agents at the village level or commission agents at the local markets.
Transportation: Road transport by trucks/lorries is the most convenient and best mode of transport as it is an easy approach from orchards to the market.
Pest and their management in Guava fruit farming:
- Major Insect Pests of Guava, their symptoms and management
| Scientific name | Bactrocera diversus | Virachola (Duodorix) isocrates, Rapala varuna | Ferrisia virgata, Maconellicoccus hirsutus |
| Common name | Fruit fly | Fruit borer | Mealybug |
| Distribution | All over India. | All over India. | All over India. |
| Lifecycle | The insect lays eggs on the soft skin of fruits and the egg period is about 1-4 days. Maggots are pale cream, cylindrical, 5-8 mm in length and larval period is 4-5 days. Maggots pupate in the soil, the pupal period is 7 – 13 days. Adults are smoky brown with greenish-black thorax having yellow marking on it. | The egg period is 7-10 days and the larval period is 18 to 47 days. Caterpillar is dark brown with short hairs and white patches all over the body. Larvae pupate inside fruit but occasionally outside even, attaching themselves to fruit stalks. The pupal period is 7 to 34 days. Males are glossy, bluish-violet, whereas the female is brownish-violet with an orange patch on the forewings. Four generations are completed in a year. | The egg period of mealy bugs is about 5 to 10 days. Crawler nymphs are orange, whereas females and males are with 3 and 4 nymphal instars respectively. However, adult females are pinkish and sparsely covered with white wax. Insects attain single generation per month, however, the life cycle extends in winter months. |
| Symptoms of damage | Maggots bore into the fruits and feed the soft fruit pulp. The infested guava fruits show small cavities with dark greenish punctures and when cut open, the wriggling maggots are seen inside the fruit. Infestation leads to rotting and dropping of fruits. | Larvae bore inside the developing fruits. Larvae feed on pulp and seeds exhibiting round boreholes on the fruits. Infested fruits are also attacked by secondary microbes like bacteria and fungi, and the guava fruits ultimately fall off and give an offensive smell. | Both nymphs and adults suck the cell sap leads to crinkling and yellowing of leaves with rotting of berries. Whitey growth of insect pests is seen on all the plant parts. |
| Management practices | Spray fenvalerate 20EC @1lt or malathion50EC @2lt in 1500 to 2000 lt water per ha. Rake the soil around the tree and apply lindane dust 1.3D @25 kg/ha. | Spray Novaluran @1.25ml/lt water or thiodicarb@1gm/lt water | Spray a mixture of Acephate 1gm + Dichlorovos 1ml in lt water or spray buprofezin@0.1% or dimethoate@0.045% in early fruiting season/ non-fruiting season. The spray may be repeated at fortnightly intervals depending on the severity of the attack. |
Major Nematode pests in Guava, their symptoms and management
| Scientific name | (Meloidogyne enterolobii) |
| Common name | Root-knot nematode |
| Local name | Root-knot Nematode |
| Lifecycle | Young juvenile nematodes hatch from the eggs in the soil and migrate towards the root tips of the susceptible plants. The nematode enters the plant through the roots and sets up a permanent feeding site, and begins developing into a mature female. During this process, large galls or swellings of the root tissue of the plant may form in association with the developing female. A single female can produce as many as 400-600 eggs. The nematode life cycle is completed in just 4 weeks during favorable warm weather conditions. |
| Nature and symptoms of damage | Stunting and yellowing of plant foliage with early wilting. Large numbers of egg masses are visible on small or secondary roots. Root-knot nematodes exhibit serious galling of the plant root system. |
| Management practices | Removal and destroying of nematode infested trees. Apply FYM (Farm Yard Manure) @100kg, neem cake @250gm and carbofuran @60gm/tree at the early stage of nematode infestation in the orchard. However, the application of nematode-egg parasitic fungus Paecilomyces lilacinus @25g is also found effective. |
- Major diseases, symptoms, and management of Guava in India
| Guava Disease | Wilt | Anthracnose | Canker |
| Scientific name | Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. psidii or F. solani or Macrophomina phaeseol or Rhizoctonia bataticol or Cephalosporium sp. or Gliocladium roseum | Gloeosporium psidii | Pestalotia psidii |
| Nature and symptoms of damage | Yellow discoloration with slight curling of the leaves of the terminal branches. Premature shedding of the plant leaves. Fruits of all the disease-infested branches remain underdeveloped with hardiness and stony texture of the guava fruit. | The dieback phase is seen. Young shoots, leaves, and fruits are readily attached, while they are still in the tender stage. The greenish color of the growing tip changes to dark brown and later to black necrotic areas extending backward causing the die back symptom. | Minute, brown or rust-colored, unbroken, circular, necrotic areas, which is an advanced stage of infection is seen. Pathogen tears open the epidermis in a circinate manner. The crater-like appearance is the typical noticeable symptom of fruits rather than on leaves. |
| Seasonal occurrence and factors of abundance | High rain falls during August and September months favors the disease development. | Closer or Dense planting without canopy management. The availability of free water in the guava orchard with dew or rains encourages spore production and its dispersal around the canopy. | Germination of spores is maximum at 300 C and the spores do not germinate below 150C or above 400C and at 98% RH. |
| Management practices | Pit treatment with formalin and kept covered for 3 days and transplanting should be done after two weeks to avoid the disease. Drenching with carbendazim/benomil@1gm or COC@3gm/lt water thrice or spray Bavistin (0.1%) around the roots and leaves at a 10-day interval or trunk injection with 0.1% water-soluble 8-quinolinol sulfate. | Spray COC@3gm or Carbendazim@1gm/lt water at 15 days interval during the fruit formation stage. Dip the fruits in 500 ppm tetracycline for 20 min for harvested fruits. Apply biocontrol agents like Streptosporangium pseudovulgare on fruits before the emergence of symptoms. | Spray 1% Bordeaux mixture or lime sulfur 3-4 times at 15 days interval. Bagging of fruits at the fruit formation stage. |
Conclusion: This is all about the Guava fruit farming guide for beginners in India. If you have any queries, you can comment below.
good and interesting but should be more descriptive.
Thanks. We will work on that.