Monday 3 February 2014

Guava Farming

                                 Guava Farming

                                INTRODUCTION

Guava (Psidium guajava) is one of the most common fruits in India. It is quite hardy and prolific bearer. Guava is a commercially significant , highly remunerative crop even without much care. It is a rich source of vitamin C and pectin. It is also a good source of calcium and phosphorus.
Certain important strategies have been identified for enhancing horticulture development in India in order to be competitive in the world market. They involve adoption of modern, innovative and hitech methods. One such strategy is the high density plantation (HDP). This includes adoption of appropriate plant density, canopy management, quality planting material, support and management system with appropriate inputs. HDP generally refers to planting at a closer spacing than the normal recommended spacing. It has been attempted in different crops such as guava, apple ,banana ,mango, pineapple, peach, etc. Many guava farmers have been adopting this technology successfully in different parts of the country. HDP technology results in maximisation of unit area yield and availability of the fruits in the market early which fetch better price.
SUITABLE AREA
Guava is successfully grown all over India. The total area and production of guava in the country are 1.90 lakh hectare and 1.68 million tonnes. Major guava producing states are Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra , Karnataka , Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. However, Uttar Pradesh, is by far the most important guava producing state of the country and Allahabad has the reputation of growing the best guava in the country as well as in the world.

SOIL
Guava is very hardy. It can thrive on all types of soil from alluvial to lateric. However, it is sensitive to waterlogging. It can be grown on heavier but well drained soil. Deep friable and well-drained soils are the best. The top soil should be rich for better stand. Soil pH range of 4.5 to 8.2 is congenial for guava but saline or alkaline soils are unsuitable.
CLIMATE
Guava is successfully grown under both tropical and subtropical climates. It can grow from sea level to an attitude of about 1500 m (5000'). An annual rainfall of below 1000 mm (40') between June and September is the best for the growth of guava plants. Young plants are susceptible to drought and cold conditions. Yield and quality improve in areas with a distinct winter season.

CULTIVARS
The most popular guava cultivars are Lucknow 49 , Allahabad Safeda and Harijha. Other varieties preferred by the farmers are Apple, Baruipur Local, Benarasi ,etc. From the view
point of yield and quality, Lucknow-49 may be considered to be the most popular commercial cultivar. Different research institutes have been making efforts to develop some new varieties and hybrids. IIHR, Bangalore, has developed two soft-seeded superior varieties viz., Arka Mridula and Arka Amulya.

  Varieties Cultivated


Important guava varieties cultivated in different states of India are given below :


State

Varieties grown
Andhra Pradesh
-
Allahabad safeda, Lucknow 49, Anakapalli, Banarasi, Chittidar, Hafshi, Sardar, Smooth Green, Safed Jam, Arka Mridula
Madhya Pradesh
-
L-49, Allahabad safeda, Gwalior-27, Hafshi, Seedless Chittidar
Jharkhad
-
L-49, Allahabad safeda
Karnataka
-
Allahabad Safeda, L-49, Araka Mridula, Araka Amulya, Bangalore, Dharwar
Assam
-
Am Sophri, Madhuri Am, Safrior Payere
Bihar & Jharkhand
-
Allahabad Safeda, Apple Colour, Chittidar, Hafshi, Harijha, Sardar, Selection-8
Maharashtra & Gujarat
-
Nagpur seedless, Dharwar, Dholka, Kothrud, L-24, L-49, Nasik, Sindh
North-eastern States
-
Allahabad Safeda, Sardar, Red Fleshed.
Tamil Nadu
-
Anakapalli, Banarasi, Bangalore, Chittidar, Hafshi, Nagpur Seedless, Smooth Green
Uttar Pradesh
-
L-49, Allahabad Safeda, Lucknow Safeda, Apple Colour, Chittidar, Red Fleshed, Allahabad Surkha, Sardar, Mirzapuri Seedless, CISH-G-1, CISH-G-2, CISH-G-3
West Bengal
-
L-49, Allahabad Safeda, Dudhe Khaja, Gole Khaja, Kabli, Baruipur, Chittidar, Harijha, Sardar



PROPAGATION
 Guava is propagated from seeds and also by vegetative methods. Seedling trees produce fruits of variable size and quality although such trees are generally long-lived. Vegetative methods like cutting, air layering, grafting and budding are used for propagation of guava. Air-layering has been observed to be the most successful commercial method practised for guava. The cheapest method of rapid multiplication is stooling, i.e.mound layering in nursery beds.


  • Planting 
    •                    
    The field should be deeply ploughed, cross ploughed , harrowed and levelled before digging pits. The pits of about 0.6 m x 0.6m x0.6 m dimension should be dug before the monsoon. After 15-20 days, each pit should be filled with soil mixed with 20 kg of organic manure and 500 g of super phosphate. In very poor soils, the pit size may be bigger, about 1m x 1m x 1m ,and more of organic manures may be necessary. Onset of monsoon is the time to start planting.
    1.  


  • Planting density  Standard spacing for guava is , 6m x 6m, accommodating 112 plants /acre. However, it is commonly planted at a distance of 3.6 m to 5.4m (12' to 18'). Traditional planting spaces in some parts of country range even upto 5.4 to 7.0m (18' to 23'). By increasing the plant density, productivity can be increased. Although there would be reduction in size of fruits, the number of fruits per plant remains more or less similar. In the model scheme, a distance of 4.5m x 4.5m (15'x15')with a population of 195 per acre is considered, which was observed to be common in areas covered during a field study.
  • Irrigation  

    • Normally irrigation is not required in guava plantation. However, in the early stage, young guava plants require 8 to 10 irrigations a year. Life saving hand watering is necessary in summer season in dry areas and on light soils. Full grown bearing trees require watering during May-July at weekly intervals. Irrigations during winter reduce fruit drop and improve fruit size of winter crop. In order to conserve soil moisture from pre-monsoon showers, V shaped or half moon shaped bunds or saucer shaped basins may be made. Drip irrigation has been proved to be very beneficial for guava. Besides saving 60 % of water, it results in substantial increase in size and number of fruits.

  • Manuring and fertilisation 
    •                                                Guava is very responsive to the application of inorganic fertilisers along with organic manures. Soil type , nutrient status and leaf analysis can give better indication for requirement of nutrients. A thumb rule recommendation is considered in this model. NPK may be applied @100, 40 and 40 g per plant year of age, with stabilisation in the 6th year. They may be applied in two equally split doses in January and August.
    Spraying the trees with 0.45 kg zinc sulphate and 0.34 kg slaked lime dissolved in 72.74 l (16 gallons) of water cures Zn deficiency. The number of sprays depend on the severity and extent of the deficiency. 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.

  • Inter culture 
    •                             The main practices of inter culture followed are weeding and spading. Manual weeding is preferable; spraying weedicides such as gramoxone is also effective. in order to manage the orchard soil, ploughing two times a year, once in October and the other in January , is necessary. Mulching the basins at least twice a year also is important to conserve moisture and discourage weed growth.

  • Intercropping 
    •                           The interspace can be economically utilised by growing suitable intercrops in the early stages till the bearing. A crop combination of several plantation crops, vegetables and leguminous crops like papaya, pineapple, beans,cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, cowpea, etc., are considered safe intercrops.

  • Training and pruning 
    •                                       Training of guava trees improves yield and fruit quality. The main objective of training guava plants is to provide strong framework and scaffold of branches suitable for bearing a heavy remunerative crop without damaging the branches . For this, shoots coming out close to the ground level should be cut off upto at least 30 cm from the soil. The center should be kept open, while four scaffold limbs may be allowed to grow. A light annual pruning is necessary in guava as it bears on current season's growth. Experimental evidences support pruning off 75% of current season's growth in May for harvesting good winter crop.


  • PEST MANAGEMENT
    Fruit fly, mealy bug, scale insects, etc. are the major pests in guava. The following measures are adopted to control the damage done by these pests:
    1. Fruit fly :
        
      1. Spraying of chemicals like malathion 2 ml, phosphamidon 0.5 ml per l of water.
      2. Destruction of infected fruits and clean cultivation.
             
    2. Mealybug:

      1. Soil treatment with aldrin, malathion, thimet, etc.
      2. Banding the base of the plant with polythene film to prevent the nymph from climbing up from the soil.
      3. Spraying of methyl parathion , monocrotophos or dimethoate.

    3. Scale insect : Spraying of fish oil rosin soap with water or crude oil emulsion,dimetholate, methyl demiton, etc.
    DISEASE MANAGEMENT
    The most damaging diseases in guava are wilt and anthracnose. Cancker, cercospora leaf spot, seedling blight. etc., are some other important diseases. Control measures of the major diseases are briefed below:

    Wilt disease: Wilt is the most serious fungal disease . Bearing trees , once affected, slowly die away. Drenching the soil at trunk bases with brasicol and spraying the plant with bavistin at early stage of infection minimise the damage. Injecting 8-Quinolonol sulphate is also effective.
    Anthracnose: Spraying of Cu-oxychloride, cuprous oxide, difolatan, dithane Z- 78, etc., controlthis disease.

    FLOWERING AND FRUIT SET
                                                            Two important seasons of blooming are observed, one in April-May (Monsoon Crop) and the other in September - October (Winter Crop). Growth regulators like NAA, NAD, and 2,4-D are very effective in thinning of flowers and manipulating the cropping season.
    Fruit drop in guava is as severe as 45-65% due to different physiological and environmental factors. Spraying of GA is highly effective in reducing the drop.
    HARVESTING
                               Grafted, budded or layered guava trees start bearing at the age of 2 to 3 years. Seedling trees require 4 to 5 years to bear. The guava fruit can not be retained on the tree in ripe stage. So, it should be picked immediately when it is mature. Guava is ready for harvest as soon as the deep green colour turns light and a yellowish green patch appears. Individual hand picking at regular intervals will avoid all possible damage.
    YIELD
                   The yield varies in different cultivars and with care and management of the orchard, age of plant and season of cropping.

    The yield per tree may be as high as 350 kg from grafted plants and 90 kg from the seedling tree. A three year old grafted Lucknow - 49 guava tree may yield 55-60 kg under suitable conditions. Yield starts with 4 to 5 kg in the second year . Although the farmers experience a yield of more than 75 kg per tree in HDP of guava, a very modest yield of only 40 kg/tree has been considered for this model.
     
  • CROP REGULATION
                                          Compared to monsoon crop, winter crop is much superior in quality and fetch premium price. Therefore, farmers often reduce monsoon crop by deblossoming to get a higher price. This is done by spraying plant regulators like Maleic Hydrazide (100000 ppm) on spring flush of flowers. NAA 100 ppm , NAD 50ppm, or 2,4-D 30 ppm are also reported to be effective in thinning flowers. Root exposure and root pruning are done to bring flowers at a desired time. Sometimes bending of twigs is done to force new sprouts which come up with flowers. Hand thinning of flowers is also very effective. Defoliation is also recommended sometimes for forcing new growth with flowers.
     
  • POST-HARVEST MANAGEMENT
    Guava is highly perishable in nature. Shelf life under ambient conditions is 2 to 3 days on an average. Therefore. it should be marketed immediately after harvest. However, it may be stored for a few days to adjust the market demand. After careful harvest, the fruits should be brought to packhouse. For packing, corrugated fibre board with adequate perforation may be used. However, fruits are reported to keep 3 to 5 weeks in cold store at a temperature of 8 to 10 degree Celsus with 85 -90 % RH.
    Costs & Returns:

    8.2              A one acre plantation of the crop is a highly viable proposition.A summary is given in the figure below.  The project cost works out to around Rs.1.25 lakhs / Acre.
     
    Figure-I : COST OF PROJECT
                Project Cost:
                                                                                                                   (Amount in Rs.)
    Sl. No.
    Component
    Proposed Expenditure
    1.
    Cultivation Expenses


    (i)
    Cost of planting material
    2200

    (ii)
    Manures & fertilizers
    5000

    (iii)
    Insecticides & pesticides
    2000

    (iv)
    Cost of Labour
    7700

    (v)
    Others, if any, (Power)
    3600


    20,500
    2.
    Irrigation


    (i)
    Tube-well/submersible pump
    40000

    (ii)
    Cost of Pipeline
    -

    (iii)
    Others, if any, please specify
    -


    40,000
    3.
    Cost of Drip/Sprinkler
    20000

    4.

    Infrastructure


    (i)
    Pump house & Labour shed
    10,000

    (ii)
    Labour room & godown
    -

    (iii)
    Agriculture Equipments
    1,000

    (iv)
    Others, if any (Drying platform)
    -


    11,000
    5.
    Land Development


    (i)
    Soil Leveling
    4000

    (ii)
    Digging
    -

    (iii)
    Fencing
    29500

    (iv)
    Others, if any, please specify
    -



    33,500
    6.
    Land, if newly purchased (Please indicate the year)
    @

    Grand Total
    1,25,000
    		 
                @Cost of newly purchased land will be limited to 10% of the total project cost.
    

 
     
    MARKETING AND EXPORT


                 It is necessary to despatch guava to markets as quickly as possible. Some 
fruits are exported from India to Bangladesh, Jordan, Quater, France, 
Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, etc. The other potential foreign 
markets are UAE, Lebanon , the Netherlands and Canada. 
    

    
Note:  Matter in This Post is taken from Following sites which are very useful to cultivation of any crop with that they can the information about subsidy
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    1. www.nabard.org 
      2. 

    2. http://nhb.gov.in
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