Yield, Economics and Quality of Guava as Influenced by Varied Levels and Frequency of Application of Jeevamrutha

Background: Sustainable production of fruit crops with the use of locally available natural resources to reduce dependence on external inputs needs to be addressed with suitable alternatives. Standardization of optimum dose of inputs used in natural farming helps the farmers for profitable cultivation of crops under ecological farming systems. Methods: The field study in 15 year old guava(Psidium guajava L.) orchard was conducted consecutively for three years to optimize the dosage and frequency of jeevamrutha applied at Regional Horticultural Research and Extension Centre, Dharwad, Karnataka. There were nine treatment combinations which were compared with three controls and replicated thrice. The experiment was laid out under factorial randomized block design. Result: Higher dosage of jeevamrutha (1000 l/ha) applied at shorter interval (once in 15 days) (D3F1) recorded higher yield, yield parameters, net returns and B:C ratio. However, recommended package of practices (RPP) recorded higher yield, returns and B: C ratio than all other treatments under study. The quality parameters such as TSS, TSS: Acid ratio, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars and total sugars content were found higher in RPP. However, the values of the quality parameters recorded in D3F1 were found on par with RPP.