Abstract

Population growth and consequent demand for more food have encouraged the search for innovative methods of production that can obtain higher sustainable yields. One of such method is high density planting which has been well appreciated in guava as there is scope for doubling the crop from the unit area. Keeping this scenario in view, an investigation on optimization of plant density in guava was conducted at Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola during 2011–15 to evaluate the effect of different planting densities on growth, yield and quality of guava under Vidarbha conditions. The rooted layers of commercial cultivar of guava L-49 were planted according to different spacings at the distance 2.0 × 1.0, 3.0 × 1.5, 3.0 × 2.0, 4.0 × 2.0, 4.0 × 3.0, 4.0 × 4.0, 5.0 × 5.0 and 6.0 × 6.0 m in 2009 in a randomized block design in three replications. From the four years pooled mean, significant variations were observed on the plant growth. Maximum plant volume (21.47 m3) was recorded at planting distance (6 x 6 m). The maximum canopy spread (3.73 m) was observed at planting distance of 5 x 5 m. Yield per plant was highest (17.56 kg/plant) also recorded from the tree planted at distance 5 x 5 m, while fruit yield per unit area was maximum (26.19 t/ha) from the planting distance of 3 x 1.5 m. Similarly, fruit physio-chemical properties were significantly influenced by different planting densities.