Effects of fruit thinning on the on-and off-season production of guava

The study was conducted during the period from July 2017 to October 2018 at the Germplasm Centre of the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU-GPC), Mymensingh to find out the effects of fruit thinning on the on-and off-season production of guava. The experiment consisted of two guava varieties viz. i. Swarupkathi and ii. BAU Piyara 5, and six fruit thinning viz. i. 0% fruit thinning, ii. 20% fruit thinning, iii. 40% fruit thinning, iv. 60% fruit thinning, v. 80% fruit thinning and vi. 100% fruit thinning. The two factor experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications. Guava varieties and fruit thinning both had significant effects on both on-season and off-season. During on-season, Swarupkathi showed superiority over BAU Piyara 5. During off-season, yield of Swarupkathi was 1.73 kg/plant, whereas BAU Piyara 5 produced only flowers but no fruit due to flower dropping in off-season. In case of thinning effect during on season 6.05kg fruit per plant was produced with 80% fruit thinning, which is the best in on-season. During off-season 1.51 kg fruit per plant was produced with the effects of 100% fruit thinning of previous season, which was the best in off-season. For combined effect of variety and fruit thinning during on-season, Swarupkathi produced 8.60kg fruit per plant at 80% fruit thinning which was the best result in Swarupkathi after different time of thinning practices, whereas BAU Piyara 5 produced 3.50kg fruit per plant at 80% fruit thinning which was the best result in BAU Piyara 5 after different thinning practices. During off-season, Swarupkathi produced 3.01 kg fruit per plant with the effects of 100% fruit thinning of previous season, which was found to be better result in Swarupkathi, while BAU Piyara 5 showed few flower (3) and did not produce any fruit due to flower dropping.