Cultivating Indian guava fruits for food and income

The Problem

Exotic fruits worth millions of dollars are imported into Papua New Guinea (PNG) every year. Imported apples, pears, grapes, oranges, and other exotic fruits line the shelves of supermarkets throughout the country, but some of these fruits can be locally grown.

The importation of these exotic fruits puts a strain on our foreign currency reserves. Moreover, the exorbitant prices of these fruits make an avid shopper whine as she picks up a few fruits and tosses them into her shopping basket.

Supermarkets that import exotic fruits into PNG pay for the fruits as well as pay import taxes to the government. Therefore, they have to charge high prices for the imported fruits so that they can recoup their monies and make a profit.

Nevertheless, the importation of exotic fruits continues unabated because PNG does not have a fruit industry.

People cultivate indigenous and exotic fruits for their consumption, and whatever excess that is sold at the local markets is usually of inferior quality and supply is not consistent.

Current Status

Indian guava is one fruit tree that can be commercially grown to meet the domestic demand for fruits. This fruit tree is not native to PNG, but it has found a niche for itself in the country. The large, succulent fruits of Indian guava appeal to both the eyes and tastebuds, making it a favorite fruit among children and adults.

Indian guava trees are grown around houses in cities, towns, and villages throughout the country. However, most of these trees lack adequate care. Therefore, most Indian guava trees are overgrown, produce fewer fruits, produce small-sized fruits, and mature fruits are usually infected by fruit fly larvae.

With proper management, Indian guava can be grown for fruit production, which can provide cash income for both rural farmers and city dwellers in this country.

Health benefits

The guava fruit is high in dietary fiber, which can ease constipation and lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Guava fruit has a high content of vitamin C, much higher than that contained in oranges. It contains lycopene and polyphenols, which act as antioxidants that help neutralize infections and the growth of cancerous cells in the human body.

High cholesterol levels in the human body can be reduced through the consumption of guava fruits, preventing the risks of heart attacks.

The large amounts of potassium and sodium contained in the guava fruit balance and regulate high blood pressure. Therefore, the guava fruit is good for people with high blood pressure.

The guava fruit also contains vitamin A, which can boost eyesight in individuals.

Planting Materials

Indian Guava can be cultivated using seedlings or grafts. Seedlings are usually raised from germinated guava seeds. Grafts on the other hand are obtained using vegetative propagation techniques such as air layering.

It takes 4 years for Indian guava to grow from seedlings to sexually mature and start producing fruits. Therefore, cultivation of Indian guava using seedlings is not recommended due to the 4 years needed to flower and fruit.

The leverage that a farmer can use to obtain guava fruits sooner and start earning an income is to plant grafted trees. A few planted guava grafts will start producing fruits at around 3 – 6 months after planting, but most trees will fruit at 9 – 12 months after planting.

Fruit set for the grafts will be low in the first 1 – 2 years, but one can expect bumper crops after the second year onward if good care is given to the guava trees.

Spacing

A guava tree is a shrub that can grow up to 5m in height and have a crown width of 6 – 8m (3 – 4m radius).

Therefore, a spacing of 4m x 4m is needed when establishing a guava plantation. This spacing is adequate for growth and crown width management.

Tending

Tending (weeding) is the most labor-intensive activity for a guava plantation. One needs to tend his guava plantation about 4 times a year, and depending on the size of the guava plantation it may take a week or more to complete tending. If paid labor is employed, this may greatly reduce the time needed for tending.

However, tending can be minimized with the use of implements such as weed mats (aka geo-mesh) if one can afford to buy such an item. The use of weed mats may be expensive, but it would be a one-off cost that would eliminate the need for tending up to several years. The use of weed mats may save the guava farmer a lot of money if paid labor is currently used for tending.

A low-cost method that can be used to minimize tending is to place garden waste around the base of each guava tree. Grass clippings, foliage from pruning of the guava trees, and uprooted weeds can be placed at a 1.5m radius around each guava tree. Lawns or weeds along the rows and columns of the guava plantation can be manually slashed or mowed using a lawn mower or a brush cutter (aka a slasher), and the grass clippings or slashed weed can be placed around the base of each guava tree.

Loping and Pruning

Pruning of guava trees is important, and it must be done after each fruiting season. To keep the guava trees short to facilitate fruit picking and maintaining a profuse hedge that will produce lots of fruits, pruning must be carried out at all costs. Pruning must be an annual activity.

Young guava trees must be lopped at 1.5m aboveground when they reach a height of 2 – 3m. 

Application of fertilizer

Every guava tree requires an adequate nutrient supply for it to maintain healthy growth and produce abundant fruits. This nutrient supply can come in the form of inorganic fertilizers or organic fertilizers such as compost.

To reduce costs for the guava farmer and produce organically grown guava fruits, the use of compost is the preferred option. Placing grass clippings, foliage from pruning the guava trees, and uprooted weeds at a 1.5m radius around each guava tree, can provide a free source of organic fertilizer.

Composted cow, chicken, or pig manure can also be used as fertilizer for guava trees. But if sources of cow, chicken, and pig manure are not available, compost made from food waste, grass clippings, dry tree leaves, and charcoal can be used.

Control of fruit fly larvae

Fruit fly larvae infest more than 90 percent of fruits on a single tree. This infestation is high, and some form of control is required.

Fruit protection bags would best serve this purpose, but fruit bags are not available in PNG. Nevertheless, polyethylene bags (15cm x 20cm) used as packaging for popcorn or scones can substitute for fruit bags.

Polyethylene bags have been successfully used to cover guava fruits to protect them against fruit fly larvae infestation in PNG, but there are some caveats.

Therefore, fruit protection bags would be the best option for protection against fruit fly larvae infestation, but they have to be imported.

The best time to bag Indian guava fruits is when juvenile fruits are about the size of table tennis balls. Bagging Indian guava fruits after this time would result in some percentage of the fruits on a tree being infected by fruit fly larvae.

Products

The fruits of Indian guava can potentially be made into several products. These include guava juice, guava jam, and guava ice cream.

Several brands of imported guava juice are sold in the country, including Vita Juice. However, Vita Juice contains 5% pure guava juice, while water, artificial flavorings, and preservatives make up 95% of the total content.

Therefore, there is a need to produce 100% guava juice within the country.

Restaurants and cafes can buy raw guava fruits which they can blend to produce juice they can serve to their customers. Few restaurants and cafes in the country are selling raw guava juice as part of their menu.

Guava jam is a potential product, but there is none produced in the country. Locally produced guava jam can replace imported jams made from pineapple, strawberry, blackberry, and others.

Guava ice cream would be a hit among children should the country produce its own. Currently, there is no imported or locally produced guava ice cream in the country.

Markets

Currently, guava fruits are produced and sold on the local markets, but large-scale production for commercial purposes is non-existent. However, the potential for large-scale production of Indian guava exists within the country.

Large mining companies need large quantities of fruits to feed their workforce at mine sites. But fruits served by catering companies at the mines are mostly imported fruits, which leaves a lot of room for local fruits such as Indian guava to replace them.

Supermarkets in the cities of Port Moresby, Lae, Rabaul, Mt. Hagen, and Goroka also sell large quantities of imported fruits, which leaves a lot of room for local fruits such as Indian guava to replace them.

There is potential for the country to venture into commercial production of guava juice, guava jam, and guava ice cream for the local and international markets.

Money to be made from the sale of guavas?

Some families in Lae, Papua New Guinea, are selling Indian guavas on a semi-commercial scale. They sell large quantities of high-quality guava fruits at the Lae Market every week, and the money they earn exceeds that earned from the sale of garden produce such as plantain, bananas, and taro at the same market.

A bag of Indian guava fruits weighing approximately 25kg would earn about K80.00 (US $22.00) at the Lae Market. A family sells about 12 bags (300kg) per week at the market, which earns them K960.00 (US $269.00).

In terms of price per kilogram, Indian guava sells for approximately K3.00 (US $0.84) per kilogram at the Lae Market.

Conclusions

Indian guava is one fruit tree that has the potential to be mass-produced in Papua New Guinea to generate income for farmers, address food security, and alleviate poverty.

Mass production of Indian guavas in Papua New Guinea has the potential to replace imported fruits and save the country millions of dollars in foreign exchange.

The development of large Indian guava fruit tree farms in the country can also provide part-time employment for locals through fruit picking and maintenance of the farms.

Produce such as guava juice, guava jam, and guava ice cream can be produced if we have enough guava farms to support local manufacturing of such products and create more employment in the manufacturing sector.