Varietal behaviour of guava under meadow orchard

Seven guava varieties viz. Allahabad Safeda, Sardar, Shweta, Lalit, CISH-G-5, CISH-G-6 and Hybrid (Lalit x Shweta) were evaluated under meadow orchard system coupled with polythene mulch at Central Institute for Sub-tropical Horticulture (CISH), Lucknow. All the guava varieties responded well to canopy architecture by pruning (topping and hedging) throughout the investigation period. In general, the maximum plant height ranging from 1.25m to 1.49 m was recorded with polyethylene mulch in all the varieties taken up for evaluation. The maximum plant height i.e. 1.49 m was obtained in CISH-G-5 coupled with plastic mulch followed by Shweta (1.38m). Similarly, without mulch the maximum plant height was recorded with Shweta (1.36m) followed by CISH-G-5 (1.26m), Sardar (1.24m) and CISH-G-6 (1.18m). Varietal performance under meadow orchard system was greatly influenced for tree volume. In general, plants with polyethylene mulch had maximum tree volume as compared to un-mulched trees. The average yield i.e. 8.60 kg plant⁻¹ was recorded in Lalit on third year after planting under polyethylene mulch followed by CISH-G-5 (8.53 kg plant⁻¹), Shweta (8.46 kg plant⁻¹), Sardar (7.83 kg plant⁻¹), Allahabad Safeda (7.66 kg plant⁻¹), CISH-G-6 (7.34 kg plant⁻¹) and hybrid (6.41 kg plant⁻¹). Similarly, the average yields of un-mulched plant were 7.23, 8.14, 8.39, 7.11, 8.51, 7.16 and 4.20 kg plant⁻¹ in Sardar, Shweta, CISH-G-5, CISH-G-6, Lalit, Allahabad Safeda and Hybrid seedlings, respectively. Among different varieties, higher TSS, ascorbic acid and total sugar content was observed in Shweta, Sardar, Lalit and CISH-G-5. Meadow orchard under mulching with polyethylene film can be extremely productive (> 43.0 tonns/ha) after 3 years of planting over the control.]