Guava (Amrood / Jamfal / Peru) Farming in India: Schedule, Fertilizer & SOP

By Sameer Allawadi – Technical Director, Utkarsh Agrochem Pvt. Ltd. · Updated November 2026

A year-round schedule and step-by-step guide for guava (amrood, jamfal, peru, Psidium guajava) orchards in India, per tree and per acre, for traditional and high-density orchards, with an organic/Utkarsh route and a chemical route for every pest and disease. Products in bold are available from Utkarsh Agrochem.

Guava is hardy and bears in its second or third year. It flowers two or three times a year, so the most important skill is crop regulation (bahar): resting the tree so it flowers once, in the season that gives the best fruit and price. The main losses come from fruit fly, guava wilt (often with the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii), anthracnose and fruit borers.

Quick answer

Also known as: Amrood, Amrud (Hindi); Jamfal (Gujarati); Peru (Marathi); Jama, Jamakaya (Telugu); Koyya (Tamil); Seebe, Perala (Kannada); Peyara (Bengali); Amrood (Punjabi). Botanical name: Psidium guajava.

This guide is for: guava orchard owners (traditional, high-density and meadow plantings), farmers planting a new guava orchard, and growers switching to residue-free or organic guava.

Get the inputs: order every Utkarsh product in this guide online at utkarshagro.com, or see schedules for other crops in our crop schedules collection. Customer care: 75678 33044. Product information and offline orders: 88665 43678, 90162 08648.

Before you start

Land, climate and water table

Money, labour and market

Spacing

Water by tree age (dry months, drip per tree per day)

Utkarsh products used in this guide

Click a product name to see its details, pack sizes and price.

1. Quick schedule — bearing orchard, mrig bahar (winter crop)

This is the most profitable crop in most of India. Doses are per tree for trees 6 years and older on 6 m spacing; use about half per tree in high-density orchards (Section 3). Pest and disease control is in Sections 5–7.

Always:

• Keep fruit fly traps in the orchard from fruit set to the end of harvest; destroy fallen fruit.

• Buy plants only from nurseries that guarantee nematode-free, wilt-free plants.

• Do not grow guava next to pomegranate, castor or cotton (shared borers and mealybug).

• Add Sil-Spread 0.5 ml/L to every spray.

2. Varieties, flowering seasons (bahar) and regional challenges

2.1 Varieties

2.2 Flowering seasons (bahar)

2.3 Region-wise challenges

3. Fertilizer

3.1 Yearly dose per tree by age (6 m × 6 m spacing)

A full-grown tree gets about 600 g N, 300 g P₂O₅ and 600 g K₂O. In high-density orchards (3 m × 3 m), give 50–60% of these per-tree doses. Large-fruited Thai types need the full dose even at high density, plus calcium and boron.

3.2 Bearing tree — two splits (mrig bahar)

In grub or termite areas, add the Grub and Termite Control Kit to the June FYM.

3.3 Drip fertigation — high-density orchard (per acre, 444 trees at 3 m × 3 m)

Keep FYM, Neem Cake, SSP and the kits as soil application in June.

3.4 Nutrient problems

ZinGap (zinc EDTA) and Mandate (manganese EDTA) are sprayed at 1 g/L each, or given by drip at 1–2 kg per acre. Use Combi-2 when several micronutrients are short. Beshape (boron 20%): spray 1 g/L at flowering and fruit set, or give 500 g/acre through drip, to reduce fruit cracking and drop. Black Pearl (liquid humic acid 12% + fulvic acid 3%): 2 L/acre as a basin drench or through drip with each fertilizer split. Release: 2 L/acre with the fertilizer splits through drip, to improve uptake. Trichoherz-P (Trichoderma harzianum): use along with Trichoz-P, 5 g/L each, in basin drenches against wilt.

4. Planting, training, crop regulation and bagging

4.1 Planting

• Use air-layered or grafted plants from a registered nursery; insist on nematode-free, wilt-free plants (check roots for galls).

• Pits 60 × 60 × 60 cm (1 m cube in hard soils), dug in April–May and exposed to the sun.

• Fill with topsoil + 20 kg FYM + Neem Cake 500 g + SSP 500 g + Nematode and Fungus Control Kit and Grub and Termite Control Kit (mixed into the FYM, 1 kg of each product per acre). No urea or MOP in the pit.

• Plant in June–August (or February–March with irrigation). Remove the polybag carefully by hand; keep the top of the root ball level with the ground — do not plant deep or pile soil above the graft or layer joint.

• Stake with a 6-foot bamboo and tie loosely at two places.

• Drench Roots Multiplier 2 ml + Trichoz-P 5 g per litre, 2 L per plant; give VAMoz-P 10 g per plant.

4.2 Training and pruning

• Keep the trunk clean up to 60–90 cm; select 3–4 well-spaced main branches; head back at 1.5–1.8 m to keep an open centre.

• In high-density and meadow orchards, prune every year after harvest to keep trees 2–2.5 m tall and prune 50% of terminal shoots in May for mrig bahar.

• Remove root suckers and water shoots regularly.

• Shoot bending (tying branches down) is practised in Maharashtra and Bengal to force new shoots and more flowers.

4.3 Crop regulation (bahar) for a winter crop

1. After the winter harvest, stop irrigation from February to May; the tree rests and drops spring flowers.

2. In May, prune 50% of terminal shoots. In north India, where leaves do not drop, a spray of urea 10% (100 g/L) defoliates the tree.

3. In black soils, roots can be exposed by digging the basin in May and covering them again in June.

4. In June, apply FYM and fertilizer and restart irrigation. Profuse flowering follows in 20–25 days, and fruit is harvested in November–January.

5. If spring flowers still appear, they can be thinned with NAA 100 ppm under expert advice.

4.4 Fruit thinning, bagging and tip cutting (large-fruited types)

• Thin fruits at pea-to-ber size, keeping 10–15% more than the target number. Large-fruited types: 1 fruit per shoot.

• Bag each fruit with a foam net, a half newspaper page and an anti-fog polythene bag with small drainage cuts at the base, without damaging the stalk. Bagging protects from fruit fly, sunburn, birds and spray residues and gives clean, shiny fruit.

• After bagging, cut the shoot tip leaving 8–10 pairs of leaves above the fruit, so food goes to the fruit.

4.5 Harvest

• Pick at colour break (green turning yellowish-green), every 2–3 days in season, with a short stalk and 1–2 leaves.

• Handle gently; grade by size; pack in ventilated crates or boxes with paper.

• Yield per acre: traditional orchard 6–8 t from year 6; high-density 10–15 t from year 4.

5. Spray schedule — nutrition, organic and chemical routes (mrig bahar)

All Utkarsh bio-products are used at 5 g (or 5 ml) per litre of water, each product. Add Sil-Spread 0.5 ml/L to every spray.

Spray volume by tree size:

Note on your choice: stay with one route for each problem. Keep 5–7 days between a chemical and a bio-product. Rotate insecticide groups. Leave at least 15 days between the last chemical spray and picking; bagged fruit is protected from spray residues.

6. Fruit fly, wilt and nematode — the main losses

6.1 Fruit fly

Signs: small punctures on ripening fruit; flesh turns soft, brown and smelly; maggots inside; fruit drops. Worst in the rainy-season (ambe bahar) crop — one reason to take the winter crop.

Control (both routes):

• ME Fruit Fly Lure (methyl eugenol) traps, 6–10 per acre, hung in the shade at 1.5–2 m from fruit set until the end of harvest; change lures every 6–8 weeks.

• Bag fruits of large-fruited types.

• Collect fallen and infested fruit twice a week and bury at least 60 cm deep.

• Hoe the basins after harvest to expose pupae.

• Chemical route only in heavy attack: bait spray of Malathion 50% EC 2 ml + jaggery 10 g per litre on the trunk and lower leaves (not on fruit), every 10 days.

6.2 Guava wilt and root-knot nematode

Signs: usually starts with the monsoon. Leaves turn pale yellow and droop, then drop; one or more branches dry; fruits stay small and hard; the whole tree may die within weeks to months. Dig the roots: knotted, swollen roots with galls mean the guava root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne enterolobii), which weakens roots and lets wilt fungi enter. It has spread through infected nursery plants to many states.

Prevent:

• Buy only nematode-free plants; check roots before planting; reject plants with galls.

• Avoid waterlogging; keep pH in range; use lime only where soil is acid.

• Nematode and Fungus Control Kit and Neem Cake with FYM in every June application.

• Do not grow tomato, brinjal, okra or other nematode hosts between guava rows.

Control at first signs:

Remove and burn trees that have died, with as many roots as possible; leave the pit open to the sun and treat it with the kit before replanting.

7. Other pests and diseases

8. Disorders and orchard problems

9. Step-by-step SOP

New orchard

1. Choose the site. Well-drained soil; no guava wilt or nematode history; water for young plants.

2. Plants. Air-layered or grafted, nematode-free plants of a variety your market wants; inspect roots.

3. Pits (April–May). Dig, expose to sun, fill as in Section 4.1 with kits.

4. Plant (June–August). Root ball level with ground; stake; Roots Multiplier + Trichoz-P drench; VAMoz-P.

5. Years 1–2. Fertilizer by age in two splits; drip and mulch; train 3–4 main branches; remove suckers; intercrop with legumes or vegetables (not nematode hosts); remove flowers in year 1.

Bearing orchard — every year (mrig bahar)

1. February–April. Rest: no irrigation, no fertilizer; prune dead wood.

2. May. Prune 50% of terminal shoots; defoliating urea spray where needed; dig basins.

3. June. FYM, Neem Cake, kits and first fertilizer split; restart irrigation; new-flush spray.

4. July–August. Flowering and fruit-set sprays; fruit fly traps; thinning; bagging.

5. September–November. Second split; borer, anthracnose and fruit rot sprays; tip cutting; collect fallen fruit weekly.

6. November–January. Harvest at colour break; grade and pack; F-Enhancer spray 2 weeks before harvest.

Keep records: bahar dates, fertilizer and spray dates, trap catches, wilt trees (with location), yield per picking and price.

Crop planning: compatible crops and intercrops

Guava is a perennial, so planning means choosing compatible crops (farmers' "friend crops") for the space between young trees, and avoiding incompatible crops ("enemy crops") that share its wilt, nematodes or fruit flies.

Pheromone traps, lures and other trapping methods

Using traps correctly: hang fruit fly traps 1.5–2 m high in the shade inside the canopy; empty catches weekly; handle lures with gloves.

Other non-chemical methods: collect and bury fallen fruits every 2–3 days; bag fruits with paper or non-woven bags in high-value plots; prune criss-cross branches; plough under the trees after harvest to expose pupae.

10. Cost and profit (per acre, indicative)

Establishment (years 0–2): about ₹1.2–2 lakh per acre for plants, pits, drip, staking and care, depending on spacing and variety.

Bearing high-density orchard per year (444 trees, large-fruited type with bagging):

With a yield of 12 t per acre, the break-even price is about ₹16 per kg. Traditional varieties without bagging cost about ₹40,000 less but usually sell for less.

---

Organic manures and growth regulators from Utkarsh

Use these alongside the fertilizer schedule above. They give slow-release phosphorus and potash and build soil organic carbon around the roots.

Growth regulators: Bloom Power, Flower Fix and CulStar are not labelled for guava, so do not use them on this crop.

Frequently asked questions

What is bahar treatment in guava?

Guava can flower in three seasons (ambe, mrig and hasta bahar). Bahar treatment means resting the tree and stopping irrigation for some weeks so that it flowers in the season you choose. Most farmers take the mrig bahar (monsoon flowering, winter fruit) because winter fruit is sweeter and gets less fruit fly.

How do I control fruit fly in guava?

Hang ME Fruit Fly Lure traps from fruit set onwards, collect and bury fallen fruit every week, and bag high-value fruit. Rainy-season fruit is the most affected.

How do I prevent guava wilt?

Wilt is linked with nematodes and soil fungi. Plant nematode-free saplings, apply the Nematode and Fungus Control Kit with FYM and Neem Cake every year, avoid waterlogging, and keep roots active with Microbes.

Which fertilizer increases guava fruit size and sweetness?

At fruit growth, spray NPK 00:52:34 and later NPK 13:00:45 or NPK 00:00:50, with Calcium Nitrate, Beshape and F-Enhancer for size, firmness and shine.

How do I control mealybug and whitefly on guava?

Spray Beveroz-P and Verticoz-P (5 g/L each) at the first colonies, use Shield for whitefly, and band the trunk to stop mealybug crawlers climbing.

When should guava trees be pruned?

Prune after the harvest to open the centre and head back shoots, so that new shoots carry the next crop. Follow pruning with a Trichoz-P paste on cuts and a feed of Stress Free to help recovery.

Which guava variety is best in India?

Allahabad Safeda and Lucknow-49 (Sardar) are the main white-fleshed varieties. Lalit and Arka Kiran have pink or red flesh, and Shweta and Arka Mridula have soft seeds. Large-fruited Thai types and Taiwan Pink suit high-density orchards for premium city markets, but need heavy feeding, thinning and bagging.

How many guava plants are planted per acre?

About 110 plants at 6 m × 6 m (traditional), 222 or 444 plants at 6 m × 3 m or 3 m × 3 m (high density, the most popular system now), and 880–2,000 plants in meadow orchards that are pruned very hard.

About this guide

Prepared by Sameer Allawadi, Technical Director, Utkarsh Agrochem Pvt. Ltd., Surat, Gujarat — makers of bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides, biostimulants and water-soluble fertilizers since 1999. Last reviewed: November 2026. Doses are general guidance for Indian conditions; always read the product label and follow local agriculture department advice.

Topics covered: guava farming, amrood ki kheti, jamfal farming, guava fertilizer schedule, guava spray schedule, mrig bahar in guava, bahar treatment, guava fruit fly control, guava wilt control, mealybug in guava, guava pruning, high-density guava, organic guava farming, guava yield per acre, guava fruit size and sweetness.

Utkarsh Agrochem Pvt. Ltd. 177–179, Golden Plaza, Behind Kamrej Police Station, NH No. 48, Taluka Kamrej, District Surat – 394185 · Customer care: 75678 33044 · Product information and offline orders: 88665 43678, 90162 08648 · www.utkarshagro.com

Sources: ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (Lucknow) guava production and meadow orcharding guides; ICAR-IIHR (Bengaluru); MPKV Rahuri, Punjab Agricultural University and TNAU packages of practices; research on Meloidogyne enterolobii in guava; experience of guava growers in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka; Utkarsh Agrochem field experience.

Download this guide (PDF)

Save the complete guava guide on your phone or print it for the field. Free, no sign-up needed.

Download the free PDF guide

File: guava-amrood-farming-schedule-fertilizer-sop-india-utkarsh-agrochem.pdf

More free farming guides

• Mango (Aam) farming guide
• Papaya (Papita) farming guide
• Pomegranate (Anar) farming guide
• All Utkarsh crop guides