The “Arka Kiran” Guava F1 Hybrid developed by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru inspired Shri G. Kranthi Kumar to grow it in his field. The variety is enriched with the benefits - a semi-vigorous, prolific and precocious bearer, yields medium sized round fruits with deep red, firm pulp and with high lycopene content (7.14 mg / 100 g).
Shri Kumar, a B.Tech. drop out from the Isuka Darsi Village of Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh having a passion for fruit cultivation visited the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru to gather the knowledge and get himself trained for the cultivation of the variety. He also purchased the planting material from the ICAR-IIHR licensee - Shri Krishniah of M/s. Bloom Irrigation Systems, Pvt. Ltd., Prashanthi Nagar, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
To grow the Arka Kiran in Ultra High Density Meadow Orchard Method, that is, 2,000 plants per acre and intention to achieve the breakeven point of investment cost at the earliest, he planted the plants in 5 acres area in September - 2018 and another 5 aces in February - 2019 at 2x1 meter distance for raising the guava orchard successfully. By following the ICAR-IIHR’s package of practices, Shri Kumar also used to prepare biostimulants like botanicals, Panchakavya, Dasha kavya, Cow dung slurry, Jeevamurtha and Agnistra at his farm and apply as foliar nutrition for growth promotion and control of pests and diseases.
By this, he realized good fruit yield in Guava, that is, 7 tonnes in the first year and expected 20 tonnes in the second year. He could sell his produce @ Rs. 35,000 per ton in market constantly along with selling 300 litres of fruit juice @ Rs. 60 per litre. He was very happy with the Arka Kiran’s performance in terms of better fruit color, fruit flavor and yield, amenable for high density meadow orchard system, premium price and higher net returns. He earned Rs. 2.45 Lakhs in the first year and is expecting Rs. 7 Lakhs in the 2nd year with an investment of Rs. 3 Lakhs per acre. The cost benefit ratio is 1:2.04. Apart from main fruit sales, he also used to prepare fruit juices and earned additional income of Rs. 18,000 in the first year. As a whole, his income was enhanced from Rs. 2,45,000/- to Rs. 2,63,000/- in the first year itself.
(Source: ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru)
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