Winter season crop regulation in Sardar guava

A field experiment was conducted on six year old guava cv. Sardar trees subjected to ten treatments, i.e., T₁-Urea spray 10% fertilizer grade at 50% bloom stage and second spray after 10 days of first spray, T₂-Urea spray 15% fertilizer grade at 50% bloom stage, T₃-NAA @ 1000 ppm, T₄-NAD @ 80 ppm, T₅-Pruning of ¾ length of current season shoot, T₆-Pruning at ½ length of current season shoot, T₇-Bending of upright shoots, T₈-Withheld irrigation with root exposure, T₉-Withheld irrigation and T₁₀-Control. The results showed that vegetative growth parameters (number of newly emerging shoots and leaf area index) were maximum under NAD @ 80 ppm whereas, yield (plant⁻¹ and ha⁻¹) was better under NAA at 1000 ppm. In terms of physicochemical parameters (fruit weight, TSS, ascorbic acid content), bending (T₇) and pruning at ½ length of shoot (T₆) showed its superiority. As far as economics is concerned, higher net return (Rs.1, 10, 561.9 ha⁻¹) and B: C ratio (2.82: 1) were recorded in Urea 15% fertilizer grade single spray treatment (T₂). Thus, T₂ treatment was economically efficient for avoiding rainy season crop load and registered significantly higher fruit yield as well as satisfactory fruit quality attributes in winter season guava under southern Rajasthan conditions.