Effect of N.P.K. and Vermicompost on growth, flowering and yield of guava (Psidium guajava) cv. Hisar safeda in Sri Ganganagar district in Rajasthan

Introduction

Guava (Psidium guajava L.), a member of family Myrtaceae, is one of the most important tropical or subtropical fruit crop popularly known as "Apple of Tropics". It is popular fruit widely grown in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Guava tree is characterized by the smooth bark, greenish brown to brown in color and scaly, angular young shoots, numerous stamens, actinomorphic white flowers, inferior ovary and fruits are globose berries. The flesh is white, yellow, pink or red with embedded numerous many seeds. The genus 'Psidium' consists of about 150 species, out of which only 20 species produced edible fruits. Guava got domesticated due to its excellent adaptability to different climatic conditions, hardy nature and prolific bearing. It is the fourth most important fruit crop of India after mango, banana and citrus and it is believed to be introduced in India at a very early date. Guava has adopted in India so well that it appears to be an Indian fruit. India shares 4 percent of the world production of guava producing 3.82 million tons under 0.26 million hectares area with the productivity of 14.7 t ha -1 . Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are the major guava growing states in the country. Uttar Pradesh occupies first position in area and production of guava in India. In Rajasthan, guava is grown in an area of 4.10 thousands hectare with production of 42.50 million tons and productivity is 10.37 thousand tons per hectare (Anonymous, 2023) [1] . It is rich source of pectin, hence suitable for jelly making. It also contains the group of major antioxidants like polyphones, carotenoids, omega-3 and omega-6 which belong to unsaturated group of fatty acids. The dietary fiber is one of the most important constituents of its seed. Hisar safeda this is the most famous variety grown in Uttar Pradesh for table purpose. Tree is medium in height (5.8-6.5m) with vigorous branching and dense foliage. Fruits are medium in size (180 g), round in shape with few seeds. Fruit is white fleshed with good keeping quality. The basic concept of integrated nutrient management (INM) is the adjustment of plant nutrient supply to an optimum level for sustaining the desired crop productivity. It involves proper combination of chemical fertilizers, organic manure and bio fertilizers suitable to the system of land use and ecological, social and economic conditions. Vermicomposting is an ecofriendly natural fertilizer prepared from biodegradable organic wastes and is free from chemical inputs. Vermicompost is rich in beneficial micro flora such as N fixers, P-solubilizers, cellulose decomposing micro-flora etc. It contains earthworm cocoons which increases the population and 3 Nutrient Management in Guava activity of earthworm in the soil and also contains valuable vitamins, enzymes and hormones like auxin, gibberellins etc. that enhances the decomposition of organic matter in soil, soil structure, texture, aeration, and water holding capacity and prevents soil erosion. It also improves nutrient status of soil both macro-nutrients and micronutrients, water retention capacity of soil because of its high organic matter content and promotes better root growth and nutrient absorption.

Materials and Methods

The present experiment entitled "Effect of N.P.K. and Vermicompost on growth, flowering and yield of guava (Psidium guajava) cv. Hisar safeda was carried out at the horticulture farm of chak1K, Mirzewala, Sri Ganganagar spring season of the year 2024. The experiment was conducted at 1K, Mirzewala, Sri Ganganagar Rajasthan 335038, the study involved 4 years plants of guava, totaling 33 in numbers, spaced at regular intervals of 3 m*3 m. The experiment include 11 treatments with different dose of N:P:K (N.P.K.1. -200 g, 100 g, 120 g/plant, N.P.K.2.-150 g, 75 g, 90 g/plant, N.P.K.3. -100 g, 50 g, 60 g/plant,) and Vermicompost (Vermicompost (V1) -3kg/plant) Vermicompost (V2) -2.5kg/plant and Vermicompost (V3) -2kg/plant) were applied twice in each treatment.

It is evident from the data presented in Table 1 that that maximum Plant height (54.33 cm) was noted in T 7 treatment N.P.K.2RDF75%)+Vermicompost+2.5kgand whereas, minimum Plant height of(35.33 cm) of guava trees was recorded in T 1 treatment control.

Growth of branch

It is evident from the data presented in Table 1 that Maximum Growth of branch (24 cm) was noted in T 9 treatment N.P.K.2 (RDF75%)+Vermicompost+ 2kg and Whereas, minimum growth of branch of (6.67 cm) of guava trees was recorded in T 1 treatment control.

Length of branch

It is evident from the data presented in Table 1 that maximum Length of branch of (54.33 cm) was noted In T 11 treatment N.P.K.3(RDF50%)+Vermicompost+2kg and Whereas, minimum lengthof branch of (40.33 cm) of guava trees was recorded in T 1 treatment control.The reason of increased vegetative growth characters was due to high photosynthesis activity in guava crop found by spray ofDifferent Dosages of N.P.K and Vermicompost.Similar findings were also observed by in guava, Mitra (2012) [6] inguava.

Number of flowers per branch

It is evident from the data presented in Table 1 that maximum Number of Flowers per Branch of (38) was noted in T 9 treatment N.P.K. 2 (RDF75%) + Vermicompost+2 kg and whereas, minimum number of flowers per branch (18) of guava trees was recorded in T 1 treatment control

Number of flowers per plant

MaximumNumber of Flowers Per plant of (403.333) was noted in T 9 treatment N.P.K. 2 (RDF 75%)+Vermicompost+2 kg whereas, minimum number of flowers per plant (200) of guava trees was recorded in T 1 treatment. This might be due to fact that the use of different dosages of N.P.K and Vermicompost improved the auxin and metabolic activities of plant and that finally enhance flowering attributes. Further, the finding of present study are in close agreement with finding of Bhadarge et al. (2022) [2] , and Sandhu (2024) [7] et al. in guava.

Number of fruit per plant

It is evident from the data presented in Table 1 that maximum Number of fruit per plant of (86) was noted in T 7 treatmentN.P.K.2 (RDF75%) +Vermicompost+2.5kg and whereas, minimum Number of fruit per plant (50) of guava trees was recorded in T 1 treatment. It was due to the reason that the increase in nitrogen content in guava resulted in higher protein content in guava. Vermicompost & N.P.K. are capable of supply adequate macro and micro plant nutrients which play major role in quality improvement through desirable enzymatic changes taking place during growth. Similar findings were also observed

Weight of fruit(gm)

It is evident from the data presented in Table 2 that maximum weight of fruit (114.33gm) was noted in T 7 treatment N.P.K.2 (RDF75%) +Vermicompost+2.5kg and whereas, minimum weight of fruit (70 gm) of guava trees was recorded in T 1 treatment control.

It is evident from the data presented in Table 2 that maximum weight of fruit/plant (14.66kg) was noted in T 5 treatment N.P.K.1(RDF100%)+Vermicompost+ 2kg and Whereas, minimum weight of fruit/plant (6.33kg) of guava trees was recorded in T 1 treatment control.

Conclusion and Recordation

On the basis of results of obtained from present investigation, all the finding could be concluded that maximum increase of plant height, Number of Fruit per Plant&weight of fruit was observed at T 5 treatments i.e. application of N.P.K.2 (RDF75%) +Vermicompost+2.5 kg. The maximum growth of branch, number of flowers per branch & number of fruit per branch was observed in guava at T 7 treatments i.e. application of N.P.K.2(RDF75%)+Vermicompost+2 kg, Maximum weight of fruit/plant was recorded with under T 3 (i.e. N.P.K.1 (RDF100%)+Vermicompost+ 2 kg and Length of branch was noticed in T 9 i.e.N.P.K.3(RDF50%)+Vermicompost+2kgas compared to all other treatments. Effect on number of flowers per plant of N.P.K and Vermicomposton growth, flowering and yield of guava (Psidium guajava) cv. Hisar safeda treatments had shown non-significant effect whole course of investigation.

References

1. Anonymous. 2023-2024 a. Data base, National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon.
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3. Dwivedi V. Effect of integrated nutrient management on yield, quality, and economics of guava. Annals of Plant and Soil Research. 2013;15(2):149-151.
4. Goswami AK, Lal S, Thakare M, Pratibha, Mishra DS, Kumar R. Studies on integrated nutrient management on yield and quality of guava cv. Pant Prabhat. Indian J Hort. 2015;72(1):139-142.
5. Mishra S, Choudhary MR, Yadav BL, Singh S. Studies on the response of integrated nutrient management on growth and yield of ber. Ind J Hort. 2011;68(3):318-321.
6. Mitra SK, Devi HL, Chakraborty I. Recent development in post harvest physiology and storage of guava. Acta Hortic. 2012;959:89-99.
7. Sandhu MS, Kaur R, Bal JS. Studies on floral bud development and flowering behaviour of guava (Psidium guajava L.). Int J Multidisciplinary Res (IJFMR). 2024;1(6):2582-2160.