04 Mar Branch bending: A simple technique for crop regulation in guava
अमरूद में फसल नियमितिकरण के लिए एक सरल तकनीक: ब्रांच बैंडिग या शाखा मोडना Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is a commercially important fruit crop belonging to the family Myrtaceae. It is widely grown all over the tropical and subtropical parts of India viz., Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Over the past decade (2001 -2010) there has been a 1.3 fold increase in area (0.16 to 0.21 million hectares) and 1.4 fold increase in production (1.72 to 2.46 million tonnes) of guava. However, its productivity has not yet increased significantly. Among several reasons for low productivity, non-adoption of crop regulation is one of the most important reasons. Crop regulation can be practiced through various techniques viz., pruning, use of chemicals and plant growth regulators, branch bending, etc. Of these, branch bending is the simplest and cost- effective technique of crop regulation. Bearing habit of guava and branch bending Guava plant bears flowers on current season’s growth or new shoots irrespective of time of year. New shoots are produced on mature wood or past season’s growth laterally or terminally. In general flowers are produced in the axils of leaves as solitary or in cymes of two or three flowers. The current season’s flowering shoot...