3. Guar - IntroductionGuar - Introduction
Guar is a drought tolerant annual legume that grows in hot,
semiarid regions with sandy soils
The major world suppliers are India, Pakistan, the United States
and smaller acreages in Australia and Africa
The world demand for Guar increased
which lead to introduction of Guar in
other countries
5. Guar - Crop propertiesGuar - Crop properties
Guar is an upright course-growing summer annual legume (18-40
inches) (45-100 cm)
The deep roots reach deep moisture
Leaves, stem and pods are smooth
The Guar bean has a large endosperm that contains a significant
amount of galactomannan gum
The endosperm contains large
amounts of gum which is the
marketable product of the plant
6. Guar – Some examples of useGuar – Some examples of use
The gum of Guar forms hydrates rapidly in water into a
viscous gel and is therefore used in various products
In Asia:
◦ Beans for vegetable consumption
◦ Crop for cattle feed
◦ As green manure
In the United States:
◦ No calorie binding agent
for stiffener in soft ice cream
◦ In pharmaceutical industry
◦ In cloth and paper manufacture
◦ Oil well drilling muds
7. Guar - UsesGuar - Uses
Forage: Guar plants can be used as cattle feed, but due to
hydrocyanic acid in its beans, only mature beans can be used.
Green manure: Guar plantings increase the yield of subsequent
crops as this legume conserves soil nutrient content.
Vegetable: Guar leaves can be used like spinach and the pods are
prepared like salad or vegetables.
Guar Gum :
8. Cultivation - Seed preparationCultivation - Seed preparation
Select seeds with same size and colour
Selected seed must be free from other crop and weed seed
Select seed from the most recent varieties (New varieties are
more resistant to diseases)
Inoculate the seed before planting with a special guar
inoculant (or a cowpea inoculant)
Plant the seeds in moist soil within 2 hours after inoculation
The seed bed should be free of weed
9. Cultivation – Seeding dateCultivation – Seeding date
Plant Guar when soil temperature is over 70˚F
(25°C)
Optimum temperature for germination is 86˚F
(30°C)
Essential conditions:
◦ Warm seedbed
◦ Adequate soil moisture
◦ Warm growing weather
10. Cultivation – Seeding and fertilityCultivation – Seeding and fertility
With row crop planter, Guar can be planted in rows
from 36 to 40 inches. (90-100 cm)
Planting depth of 1 to 1.5 inches deep (2.5-4 cm)
Guar requires a high level of phosphorous (22 to 34 kg
of P2O5/ha) and a medium level of potash (45 to 56 lb
of K2O/ha)
Apply fertilizer before planting and below the seed
Optimum pH value is between pH 7 an pH 8
12. Control MeasuresControl Measures
Weed control
Because of the slow growing rate of young Guar plant, weed
control is important
Mechanical control:
◦ Do not seed Guar in fields with Johnson grass and other perennial
weeds
◦ Early land preparation minimizes weed problems
Chemical control:
◦ Treflan (selective herbicide) can be used to control annual grasses
and annual broadleaf weeds
Diseases control
Select disease-resistant varieties and high quality certified seed to
prevent Guar from Alternaria leaf spot (fungal disease) and
Bacterial blight (seed-borne disease causing plant losses)
Control of insects and other predators
Guar Midge is the primary insect pest in the Southwest of the
USA. Rainfall or sprinkler irrigation may reduce the midge
population
13. HarvestingHarvesting
Seed pods are brown and dry at maturity
To speed up drying and to kill weeds, Gramoxone
(paraquat) can be used
Guar beans can be harvested with a normal grain combine
To clean out foreign materials use a high fan speed
Reels should be set deep enough in the Guar to control
stalks (15 to 30 cm ahead of the cutterbar)
For hay: cut crop when first pods turn brown
For green manure: Guar should be turned under when
lower pods turn brown
For seeds: after harvesting Guar can be used as mulch
when it is plowed under
14. Guar – climate and soilGuar – climate and soil
Drought resistant
High toleration of temperature (77 to 95˚F) (25 to 35˚C)
Grows well under a wide range of soil conditions, but
preferably fertile, medium textured and sandy loam soils
Salinity and alkalinity tolerant
Soil improving crop
Fits in crop rotation program (with grain sorghum, small grains
or vegetables)
15. After harvestingAfter harvesting
Income and production costs vary every year and are also
depending on soil types
Yields vary from 55 to 360 kg per hectare
Production costs are between 8 and 16 USD/hectare.
(depends on fertilizer usage and other production practices
16. Guar growing areas in PakistanGuar growing areas in Pakistan
Sindh Province :
Thar, UmerKot, Dadu, Nagar Parker Naukot andTharparkar
Districts
Punjab :
Layyah, Bhakkar,Mianwali and Khushab
KPK :
Pezzu, Lakki Marwat and D.I.Khan
Balochistan :
Lasbela and Makran
17. Situation in PakistanSituation in Pakistan
Guar is poor man’s crop
Only a few guar gum processing plants – that are
struggling to survive
Quality issues
Guar processing needs revival and international
marketing effort!
