Cultivation of Guava- Species, Varieties, Propagation, Planting, Special Practices, Harvesting

1. Botanical name : Psidium guajava L.,
Family : Myrtaceae
Origin : Tropical America
Chromosome No. : 2n =22
Apple of the Tropics and Poor man̕̕̕̕s apple
Production technology of Guava
Dr. M. Kumaresan (Hort.)
Floriculture and Landscaping
Vels Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced
Studies (VISTAS)
Pallavaram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu -600117

2. Introduction
• Ideal fruit – Nutritional security in India
• Rich source of vitamin C (260-300 mg/100 g) and contains a fair amount of calcium
• Fruits give the best jelly because of rich pectin content.
• Guava cultivation in India ranks the fourth position in terms of area and production.
• Popular and widely cultivated in UP and Bihar.
• Type of fruit – Multiple Seeded Berry
• Highly cross pollinated crop (Honey bees)
• Best quality guava is obtained from winter season (Night temperature less than 100C)
• Flowers produce on the current season growth in the axils of leaves.
• Current season growth takes one or two months to bear flowers.

3. Composition and uses
• The fresh fruits are very rich in vitamin C (228 mg/100g pulp)
• Vit-A (624 IU),Vit B2 (0.067mg), and minerals like Calcium(18mg), P(11mg), acidity
2.4 %, carbohydrates 9-10 %, TSS-13 %, pantothenic acid, riboflavin(0.040 mg),
thiamin and niacin(1.084mg), also rich source of pectin
• The fresh ripe fruits are used as table/salad fruits
• Fruits are rich in pectin
• The best quality jelly can be prepared; fruits can be canned in sugar syrup or made in to
fruit butter, juice preparation and in ice-creams
• The leaves yield a dye and are used in dying industry and also have medicinal values for
curing diarrhea
• Lycopene –Arka Kiran

4. Origin and Distribution
• A native of tropical America, guava was spread rapidly throughout the world’s
tropics by the Spanish and Portuguese
• Major guava producing countries are South Asian countries, the Hawaii Islands
Cuba and India
• In India it is grown in 1.30 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh (largest area and
production), Bihar, M.P, Maharastra and Andhra Pradesh

5. Based on seed content
• Seeded varieties – highly seeded to less seeded types – diploids (Allahabad safeda,
Lucknow-49, Arka Mridula and Red fleshed etc. )
• Seedless varieties - Autoploidy (Triploids) (Nagapur seedless and Saharanpur
seedless) produces 2 types of fruits
Partially seeded and
Completely seedless
Based on the flesh colour
i. Red fleshed
ii. White fleshed
Among these two, white fleshed are more common and red-fleshed are less common.
Classification of varieties

6. Species and Cultivars
• There are more than 150 species available in guava and some of the important species are
Psidium guajava
• It is the commercially cultivated species, rest of them do produce fruits but small size, inferior
quality and with high acid content.
Common name Scientific name Specific features
Brazilian guava / Guinea guava Psidium guineese Small fruits with poor quality
Strawberry / cattleya guava Psidium cattleianum Small fruits with purplish red color
costa – Rica – Guava / China
guava
Psidium friedrichsthalianum Small fruits globose in shape, dwarf
rootstock and resistant to nematode, guava
wilt
Guisaro guava Psidium molle -
Mountain guava Psidium montanum -
- Psidium pumilum Highest sugar content
- Psidium cujavillis Highest Vit – C

7. Varieties

8. L-49 (Lucknow-49)
• Prolific bearer, greenish yellow with milky
white sweet pulp and rough surface.
• Contains fairly soft few seeds in inner
portion of pulp.
• Number of seeds is less, keeping quality is
medium
• Very popular in Maharashtra and Andhra
Pradesh.
• Suitable for table purpose and yields about
25t/ha.

9. Allahabad Safeda
• Most famous variety grown in Uttar
Pradesh for table purpose
• Tree is medium in height (5.8-6.5m) with
vigorous branching and dense foliage
• Fruits are medium in size (180g), round
in shape with few seeds
• Fruit is white fleshed with good keeping
quality

10. Banarasi
• Variety attains a height of 4.0 to
5.5 m with a broad crown and
fruits are round, light-yellow in
colour.
• Mainly cultivated for table
purpose

11. Chittidar and Harijha
Chittidar
• Similar to the Safeda except that it has many
pinkish red dots of the size of a pinhead on the
surface of the fruit.
Harijha
• Variety attains a height of about 3.5 to 4.5 m and is
sparsely branched
• Fruits are round, greenish yellow in colour with
sweet taste

12. Arka Kiran and Arka Rashmi
Arka Kiran
• Hybrid: Kamsari x Purple Local
• Fruits are slightly pear shaped weighing on an average about 200 g
• Pulp is pink in colour with high Lycopene content and seeds are soft (<10 kg/
cm2 hardness) with a TSS of 12°Brix
Arka Rashmi
• Hybrid: Kamsari x Purple Local
• Fruits are round, weigh about 200 g
• Pulp is deep pink in colour with high ascorbic acid and lycopene content
• Seeds are medium soft (8-10 kg/ cm2 hardness) with a TSS of 11-12°Brix

13. Arka Mridula
• Variety is a selection from open pollinated seedlings of Allahabad Safeda
• Plants are semi-tall in nature and spreading
• Fruits are round in shape and weigh about 180g
• Skin is yellow in colour and smooth
• Flesh is white in colour
• The TSS is around 12 Brix
• Fruits are soft seeded and have a good keeping quality
• Good for processing due to high contents of pectin (1.041%)

14. Arka Amulya and Red Fleshed
Arka Amulya
• A progeny from the cross of Allahabad Safeda x Triploid
• Plants are medium in vigor and spreading type
• Fruits are round in shape
• Skin is smooth and yellow in colour
• Grown in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab
Red Fleshed
• Tree attains 3-5m height
• The branches are spreading with roundish oval fruit, which has yellowish skin with
pink colour flesh

15. Arka Poorna
• Developed from the progeny
selection of the cross Purple local
X Allahabad Safeda.
• Semi- vigorous in growth habit
with prolific bearing, hence suitable
for medium to high density planting.
• The fruits are round, medium to big
in size ( 200-230 g) with smooth,
shiny pericarp.
• Pulp is firm, white with thick outer
rind, good flavour and keeping
quality.
• Dual purpose variety suitable for
both table and processing

16. Lalit
• Selection from half sib population of Apple Colour
• Variety with wide adaptability in different agro ecological zones of the country
• Fruit yield is 100 kg/plant at the age of 6 years, which is higher than any other
commercial guava variety
• Fruits are of saffron yellow in colour with red flash and weighing 185-200 g/fruit,
flesh firm and pink with good blend of sugar and acid.
• Content of vitamin 'C' in fruit is 250 mg/100 g
• Suitable for both table and processing purposes
• Pink colour in the beverage remains stable for more than a year during storage

17. Hisar Safeda and Hisar Surkha
Hisar Safeda
• Cross between Allahabad Safeda x Seedless guava developed at CCS HAU, Hisar.
• Tree growth upright with compact crown, leaves oblong in shape
• Fruits are round in shape, medium in size, smooth and yellowish green surface, pulp creamy white
with few soft seeds.
Hisar Surkha
• Cross between Apple Colour x Banarasi Surkha
• Trees are medium in height with broad to compact crown, leaves oblong in shape
• Fruits are medium in size, round shape, smooth and yellowish green surface with pink pulp.
• Haryana, Punjab

18. TRY (G) 1 (2005)
• Elite mother plant from assembled unknown population at ADAC&RI, Trichy
• Off season bearing, shiny greenish yellow fruit with desirable aroma
• Fruits are having high TSS (10o Brix) & ascorbic acid (180.8 mg/100 g)
• Resistant to fruit fly and tolerant to mealy bug, scale, mite and wilt
• Withstands drought and sodicity tolerant
• Having a yield potential of 40.52 kg/tree (163.048 t/ha)
• Grown throughout in Tamil Nadu particularly under salt affected soil and stress
conditions

19. Climate and Soil
Climate
• Subtropical and tropical fruits which requires a distinct winter for developing good quality.
• Grows well both in wet and dry regions but it does better under irrigation in the dry tracts.
• Grown upto 1000 m altitude.
• Optimum temperature: 23-260C.
• With stand upto 460C.
Soil
• Deep and well drained soils are best soil for guava cultivation.
• Hardy fruit which can tolerate salinity and alkalinity.
• pH: 4.5 -7.5

20. Propagation
• In India, guava is commercially propagated by air-layering (marcottage) during
monsoon
• Application of auxin (IBA 3000-5000 ppm) increased percentage of success and
survival
• Propagation by veneer grafting and patch budding have also been standardized
• Central Institute of subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow standardized the technique
of wedge grafting for rapid multiplication of guava
• Success of technique was reported to be 70-92% in green house and 37-77% in open

21. Seed propagation
• Seedling can be raised in nursery or in polythene bags from freshly extracted seeds
of fully matured fruits.
• Seed viability declines very quickly after extraction from fruits.
• Which may be extended by treatment with potassium nitrate or ferulic acid

22. Air layering
• Shoots selected for air-layering should be 1 cm in diameter and preferably from previous
year growth
• A ring of bark about 3 cm long is removed
• Cover ring with media (soil: leaf mould; 1:1) or with Sphagnum moss, previously soaked in
water
• Wrapped with polyethylene film
• Takes 30-40 days for rooting during mansoon
• Air layers treated with IBA at 5000 ppm and found 90% rooting in month of June, 80% in
May, 70% in April, and further decreased gradually to 10% in the month of December
• Air-layering in guava is most successful between April and June in warm and humid climate.

23. Grafting - Rootstocks
1. Chinese guava (Psidium friedrichsthalianum)
• Resistant rootstock for wilt disease of guava
• Rootstock is also resistant to nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita)
2. Psidium pumilum
• Trees grafted on Psidium pumilum showed a dwarfing effect
3. Psidium cattleianum
• Cv. Allahabad Safeda on P. cattleianum showed higher yield than on P. pumilum and
P. cujavalis
4. Pusa srijan (aneuploid no. 82 rootstock of guava)
• Potentially dwarf rootstock identified at IARI, New Delhi

24. Planting
• Traditionally guava is planted in square system at a distance of 6 x 6 m to 8 x 8 m
• Canopy management from first year of planting, planting density of 3 x 6 m (555 plants
per ha) has been found most suitable and highly productive for cv. Allahabad Safeda
• Guava is highly suitable for high density plantation, because bearing is on current
seasons growth and flowers appear on axils of new leaves
• Guava can also be planted in a hedgerow system at a spacing of 6m x 3m or 6m x 2m.
• Hedgerow plantations gave almost double the crop per unit area than 6m x 6m spacing

25. HDP

26. Meadow Orchard system
• Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture has developed Meadow Orchard system for guava which
accommodates 5000 plants per ha (1 x 2 m) coupled with regular topping and hedging
• In this system, trees are trained to dwarf structure during initial stage of planting
• Provide dwarf tree stature, plants are topped to a uniform height at 2 months after planting (October) for
emergence of new shoots below the cut end
• After appearance of flowers on new shoots, 50% of the semi-hard wood portion of these shoots is pruned in
May
• Renewal growth is initiated, flowers differentiate, and original size of well-feathered tree is recovered by
the end of September
• Entire portion of tree is re-pruned in October for initiation of new shoots
• These new shoots, which resulted from May pruning produced fruits in the following season
• An average yield of 12.5 t per ha is obtained in the first year and it reaches to 45 t per ha after four years

27. 2 x 1 m

28. 2 x 1 m

29. 1 x 2 m

30. 1 x 2 m

31. Manures and fertilizers
• Guava responds well to both inorganic fertilizer and organic manure application.
Nutrient requirements for different guava growing states have been worked out
• Recommended rates of fertilizers range from 360–1000 g N, 300-1000g P and 300-1000
g of kg per plant per year
• Integrated nutrient management for bearing trees has also been standardized
• It is suggested to apply vermicompost 10 kg along with neem cake 5 kg and
Azospirillum 20 g plant per year in the month of August
• Foliar spraying of 3% Urea, 1% Calcium phosphate (monobasic) and 2% muriate of
potash two times a year (June and October)

32. Micronutrients spray for controlling
bronzing of leaves
▪ A combined spray containing ZnSO4, MgSO4 and MnSo4 @ 0.5% and CuSO4 and
FeSO4 @ 0.25 % plus Teepol @ 1ml per 5 lit of solution on various stages as
follows
1. New flush 2.One month after 3. Flowering 4. Fruit set

33. Training
• Initial training is necessary for development of a strong framework for which the first 60 to 90 cm
from the base of the trunk should be cleaned
• Keep 4 – 5 scaffold branches at an interval of 20 – 25 cm
• When the plant attained a height of about 1.5 m to 1.8 m, it is then headed back to make the centre
open
• In some parts of India (Maharashtra and south Bengal) bending system of training gets practiced for
increasing yield
• As the flower and fruits are borne on current season’s growth, a light annual pruning is considered
necessary to encourage new shoots after harvesting
• All dead, diseased, crowded growth and suckers coming up from the base and sides of the
framework should be pruned back annually

34. • Hedgerow system needs regular pruning to keep the plant in desired size
• Open centre systems or delayed open centre is generally recommended
• Pruning consists of removal of suckers arising from the base of the trunk
• Dried twigs and branches have to be removed and the cut ends may be applied with Bordeaux paste
• In Tamil Nadu, it is recommended that the tips of 10-12 cm lengths of past seasons shoots are
pruned during September and February every year to encourage more laterals
• Pruned trees give large fruits and early ripening.
• When the trees become old, the branches are pollarded leaving 30 cm in length at their origin. The
cut branches produce plenty of shoots and flowers and ultimately high yields
Training and Pruning

35. Training

36. Bending
• Pruning of past season’s terminal growth to a length of 10-15 cm is to be done
during September-October and February – March to encourage more laterals
• The erect growing branches are to be bent by tying on to pegs driven on the ground
• Old unproductive but healthy trees can be rejuvenated may be either pollarded or
cut back to 75 cm from ground level or dehorned by cutting the secondary branches
at a distance of 75 cm from their origin

37. Bending

38. Flowering-bahar treatment
▪ There are three distinct flowering seasons with corresponding harvesting periods-
rainy, winter and spring
▪ In South India the rainy season crop is preferred even though it is of poor
quality, since the price is high at this time
▪ In North India, winter crop is of better quality and the fruits also escape the
attack of white flies
▪ In Western India, root pruning of guava to regulate the season of harvesting, as is
done in the case of mandarins, is recommended in heavy soils only
▪ In lighter soils, withholding of water serves the purpose

39. ▪ Guava, flowering occurs on current season's growth, even though the crop is
available around the year
▪ For the purpose of commercial production, three distinct flowering seasons
were identified in northern and southern parts of India
▪ In north India, flowering occurs twice in a year i.e. during February and June
▪ The February or spring flowering is known as Ambe-bahar. Fruiting can be
obtained from this crop during June to September (i.e during a rainy season)
▪ The second or monsoon flowering (flowering during June) is called as Mrig-
bahar and its crop is available during November to March.
Flowering-bahar treatment

40. ▪ In southern and western parts of India, third flowering occurs in October (Hasta-
bahar) and yields can be obtained from this crop during the spring season
1. Ambe Bahar (Feb.- Mar.) – Rainy season
2. Mrig Bahar (June- July) – Winter season
3. Hasth Bahar (Oct.) – Summer season
• Bahar treatment in guava is achieved by with hold of irrigation, root exposure or
root prunning
• Application of NAA @400- 800 ppm or ethephon @ 1000- 1500 ppm or Urea (15-
20 %) following may pruning
Flowering-bahar treatment

41. Fruit set
• About 80-90 per cent flowers of guava set fruit initially of which 35 to 60 per cent
reaches maturity
• The formation of fruit-set is noticed after 10-12 days of flowering
• Spraying of GA3 at 15 to 30 ppm increased the fruit-set

42. Harvesting
• Guava, being a climacteric fruit, it ripens after harvesting; the fruits are harvested
throughout the year (except during May and June) in one or the other region of the
country
• However, peak harvesting periods in north India are August for rainy season crop,
November-December for winter season crop and March April for spring season crop
• In the mid climatic conditions of other parts of the country, the peak harvesting periods
are not so distinct
• Change in colour of fruits from dark green to pale green is the indication of maturity,
the fruits are harvested at their full yellow but firm for local market, whereas half yellow
fruits should be picked for distant markets
• The fruits are harvested selectively by hand along with the stalk and leaves.
Harvesting and Yield

43. Yield
• The tree reaches its peak bearing stage with in fifteen to sixteen years after planting
a mature tree yields about 90-150kg fruits or 10-15t/ha
• Sardar variety gives about 25t/hectare

44. Post Harvest Handling and storage
• Because of their perishable nature, guavas are disposed off immediately after
harvesting in the local market and a very small quantity is sent to distant market,
they are not kept in cold storage
• However, shelf-life of guava can be extended up to 20 days by keeping them at low
temperature of 50C and 75-85% relative humidity
• It can also be stored for about 10 days at room temperature (18 -230C) in
polybags, providing a ventilation of 0 .25%

45. Pests and Diseases
Pests
• Fruit fly- Chaetodacus spp- It is severe during rainy season crops
• Mealy bugs- Cryptolems spp
• The other pests causes problems to this crop are scale insects, Tea mosquito, shoot & bark
borer
Diseases
• Guava wilt- Fusarium spp.
• Anthracnose- Colletotrichum psidii- It is also severe during rainy season crops
• Fruit canker- Pestlotia psidii
• Cercospora leaf spot- Cercospora sawadal

46. Disorders
• Fruit drop is a serious disorder in guava resulting in about 45-65% loss due to different
physiological and environmental factors. Spraying of GA has been found to be effective in reducing
the fruit drop in guava.
• Bronzing of guava has been observed in places having low soil fertility and low pH. Affected
plants show purple to red specks scattered all over the leaves. Under aggravated condition, total
defoliation and fruits characterized with brown coloured patterns on the skin, with reduced yield are
noticed
• Foliar application of 0.5% diammonium phosphate and zinc sulphate in combination at weekly
intervals for two months reduces the bronzing in guava
• Pre-flowering sprays with 0.4% boric acid and 0.3% zinc sulphate increase the yield and fruit
size. Spraying of copper sulphate at 0.2 to 0.4% also increases the growth and yield of guava.