Studies on the Effect of Foliar Application of Different Chemicals on Yield and Physical Characteristics of Guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Hisar Safeda

Abstract

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is an important fruit crop of India. It is typically eaten fresh as a dessert fruit or processed into juice, concentrate, jam, jelly, nectarine, or syrup. Fruits are in higher demand in both domestic and foreign markets, both for fresh consumption and for processing. A field study was carried out at the Experimental Orchard, College of Agriculture, Kaul, Kaithal in the year 2023-2024 on 12 year old guava trees cv. Hisar Safeda to determine the effect of foliar application of different chemicals on yield and quality of guava. Different treatments were taken i.e. T1 : CaNO3 @ 0.5%, T2 : CaNO3 @ 1.0%, T3 : CaNO3 @ 1.5%, T4 : K2SO4 @ 0.5%, T5 : K2SO4 @ 1.0%, T6 : K2SO4 @ 1.5%, T7 : FeSO4 @ 0.2%, T8 : FeSO4 @ 0.4%, T9 : FeSO4 @ 0.6%, T10 : GA3 @ 50 ppm, T11 : GA3 @ 75 ppm, T12 : GA3 @ 100 ppm and T13: Control (water spray) with three replications under randomized block design. The results of the study revealed significant increase in yield and physical characteristics of guava fruit. However, foliar application of GA3 @ 100 ppm proved to be the best treatment in improving the fruit retention, fruit set, length of fruit, breadth of fruit, number of seeds per fruit, average seed weight, volume of fruit, firmness of fruit, number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight and yield of guava fruit over control.