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Arka Kiran red-pulp guava fruit Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

Arka Kiran (IIHR red-pulp guava)

Arka Kiran is a high-lycopene, red-pulp guava cultivar of Psidium guajava released in 2016 by ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (ICAR-IIHR), Bengaluru. It was developed from a cross between Kamsari and Purple Local and is the most widely planted red-pulp commercial guava in India, replacing the older Lalit and Apple Colour selections in many states. The variety addresses two industry needs simultaneously — a deep red pulp colour for processing into juice, nectar, jam and ice-cream, and tolerance to guava wilt complex on heavy soils.

Key characteristics

  • Released: 2016 by ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru.
  • Parentage: Kamsari x Purple Local.
  • Tree: medium-vigour, spreading, with dark-green leaves; commercial bearing from year 2-3 (very early in guava).
  • Fruit: medium (180-230 g), round to oblate, smooth thin yellow rind with a pink blush; deep red pulp; few seeds; 12-13 deg Brix and 0.4% acidity.
  • Lycopene: 5-7 mg/100 g pulp — comparable to ripe tomato and 8-10 times the yellow-pulp Allahabad Safeda level.
  • Yield: 25-35 t/ha at conventional 6 m x 6 m spacing; 35-50 t/ha under meadow-orchard high-density (3 m x 1.5 m or 3 m x 2 m).

Cultivation

Arka Kiran is propagated by air layering and by patch / wedge grafting on local guava rootstocks. Conventional spacing is 6 m x 6 m (277 trees/ha); high-density meadow-orchard plantings at 3 m x 2 m (1666 trees/ha) and 3 m x 1.5 m are increasingly recommended by ICAR-IIHR to lift early yields and shorten the orchard renewal cycle. The variety crops twice a year in the ambia (Jan-Feb flowering, Jun-Jul harvest) and mrig (Jun-Jul flowering, Nov-Jan harvest) seasons; the mrig bahar crop has better colour and quality and commands the higher price. ICAR-IIHR recommends 600 g N + 400 g P + 400 g K per mature tree split into two doses, and regular meadow pruning (Guava Pruning Cycle) to maintain productive new wood.

Pest and disease profile

Arka Kiran shows field tolerance to guava wilt (Guava Wilt Fusarium Nattrassia) on heavy soils, which is the principal advantage over Lucknow-49 (Sardar). Fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis and B. zonata), guava mealybug and tea mosquito bug are the main insect pests; the deep colour can attract fruit-piercing moths in the south. Anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides) and styler-end rot can occur in heavy-rainfall years; pre-harvest mancozeb sprays are the standard prevention.

Adoption and use

Arka Kiran is grown commercially in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Uttar Pradesh and is now the standard processing-grade guava in south India. The deep red pulp is the basis for branded RTS juice, nectar, pulp concentrate and ice-cream lines from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh processors. Fresh fruit fetches a 30-50% premium over white-pulp guava in the Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai retail trade because of consumer preference for the pink interior. ICAR-IIHR has also released other coloured guava lines — Arka Rashmi (white-pulp), Arka Amulya (white-pulp), Arka Mridula (white-pulp) and Arka Poorna (red-pulp) — that complete the institute's guava portfolio.

See also: Guava Allahabad Safeda, Guava Taiwan Pink, Guava Wilt Fusarium Nattrassia, Guava Pruning Cycle.

Sources

  1. Arka Kiran guava — variety profile. ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru.
  2. Guava varieties and package. ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru.
  3. Coloured guava varieties for processing. ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow.