Exogenous application of biostimulants for enhancing productivity and quality in guava cv. Allahabad Safeda

Abstract

Biostimulants have rapidly emerged as a new frontier in sustainable agriculture, enhancing crop performance
without the harmful effects of chemicals. Though known for some time, their systematic use and scientific
validation are recent, making them a widely adopted and still-emerging technology in modern horticulture. The
experiment was conducted at a farmer’s field in Vellore to evaluate the impact of various biostimulants on the
yield and quality parameters of the guava cv. Allahabad Safeda. The experiment was laid out in a Randomised
Block Design (RBD) with ten treatments comprising foliar applications of three biostimulants at various
concentrations, viz., seaweed extract (1%, 2%, 3%), humic secret (1%, 2%, 3%), and Wilbond (0.1 g/L, 0.3 g/L, 0.5
g/L) along with a control, and replicated thrice. The biostimulants were applied twice: once at the pre-flowering
stage and again at 30 days after fruit set. Among the treatments, the foliar application of Wilbond at 0.5 g/L
recorded superior quality attributes such as total soluble solids (12.43 ºBrix), ascorbic acid content (197.76
mg/100 g), total sugars (14.37%), reducing sugars (3.05%), and non-reducing sugars (11.32%). The result clearly
indicates that foliar application of Wilbond at 0.5 g/L (T6) was found to significantly enhance and maintain the
overall quality characteristics in guava cv. Allahabad Safeda, thus offering a promising approach for improving
productivity in commercial guava cultivation.