A Review on Crop Regulation Techniques in Guava (Psidium guajava L.) through Hi-Tech Practices

Abstract

Guava (Psidum guajava L.) is one of the most favorable fruit crops in India and is considered to be a well-executed, nutritionally valuable and profitable crop. Recently, guava has secured higher demand within the global trade because of its nutritional value and processed products. It is a hardy, prolific bearer and produces a fairly remunerative fruit crop. It is mainly cultivated on a large commercial scale. Guava fruit bears three bahar seasons, viz., Ambe bahar, Mrig bahar, and Hasth bahar. The continual bearing habit ends up in the reduction of yield with the inferiority of small-sized fruits. So as to overcome this problem, bahar treatment is practiced. Among the three bahar seasons, the heaviest flowering is observed in the Ambe Bahar season, but the fruit quality of this season is rough, watery, insipid in taste, poor in quality, less nutritive and is heavily attacked by many insects, pests and diseases. The fruit quality of winter season crops is excellent, nutritive, and escaped from the attack of fruit flies. Therefore, the crop regulation practice is to force the tree for rest and produce profuse blossoms and fruits throughout any one of the two or three flushes. It is necessary to reduce the fruit set during the rainy season and subsequently increase the fruit set during the winter season through the use of various chemicals like NAA, ethereal and urea etc to regulate the guava crop. This method aims at regulating uniform and good quality fruit and also maximizing produce as well as profit. This regulation method depends on climatic factors, cropping pattern, extend of the damage by the disease and pests, market and industry demand, cultivar, etc. Crop regulation is accomplished by the various strategies like water management to induce stress, training and pruning of shoots and roots at different levels as well as at different times and manual or chemical thinning of flowers.