Yield of Guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Lal Bahadur as Influenced by Pruning Time, Boric Acid and Potassium Silicate

Abstract

An experiment entitled was carried out at Horticultural Research Farm, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University during the years 2023 and 2024. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design with Factorial concept having three replications and sixteen treatment combinations of three factors. (Factor A - Pruning time: P1 : Last week of April and P2 : Last week of May), (Factor B - Levels of boric acid as foliar spray: B0 : No spray - Control, B1 : 0.4 % Boric acid, B2 : 0.8 % Boric acid and B3 : 1.2 % Boric acid) and (Factor C - Levels of potassium silicate as foliar spray: S0 : No spray - Control and S1 : 4 ml/L Potassium silicate). In different pruning time, pruning in the last week of May gave earlier flowering (38.33 days), number of days taken from flowering to fruit set (122.67 days) and fruit drop (22.91 %) along with more number of fruits set per shoot (13.38), fruit set (61.77 %), fruit retention (77.13 %), number of fruits per plant (238.07), fruit weight (110.94 g), fruit length (7.24 cm), fruit diameter (4.92 cm), fruit yield (26.49 kg/plant and 10.64 t/ha) in pooled data. In case of different levels of boric acid, foliar application of 0.8 % boric acid, twice, at flowering stage and at one month after the first spray, gave maximum number of fruits set per shoot (13.44), fruit set (66.73 %), fruit retention (79.86 %), number of fruits per plant (210.66), fruit weight (123.75 g), fruit length (7.20 cm), fruit diameter (5.13 cm), fruit yield (26.27 kg/plant and 10.51 t/ha) along with minimum number of days taken from flowering to fruit set (127.74 days) and fruit drop (20.16 %) in pooled data. For levels of potassium silicate, foliar application of 4 ml/L potassium silicate, twice, at flowering stage and at one month after first spray, gave higher number of fruit set per shoot (12.18), fruit set (60.54 %), fruit retention (76.97 %), number of fruits per plant (203.57), fruit weight (111.04 g), fruit length (7.01 cm), fruit diameter (4.94 cm), fruit yield (22.84 kg/plant and 9.81 t/ha) along with minimum number of days taken from flowering to fruit set (129.78 days) and fruit drop (23.03 %) in pooled data. From the two years of experiment, it can be concluded that pruning in last week of May enhanced the yield and its attributes. In case of levels of boric acid, foliar application of 0.8 % boric acid enhanced yield and yield attributing parameters. And for levels of potassium silicate, foliar application of 4 ml/L potassium silicate increased yield and its attributes.