North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[dwoodard@becon.org]

Dr. Parmar, could you say something about the climate and soil 
(including moisture) requirements of guava?

Is there much variation in the species in these requirements?

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada


On Sun, 10 Dec 2006, Dr. Chiranjit Parmar wrote:

> Dear listmembers,
>
> Some weeks ago there was correspondence about red guava with white pulp.
>
> I was at Delhi last week and the fruits of such guavas being sold there.  The 
> interest of members about this guava came to my mind and I took few pictures. 
>  I am posting these pictures as an attachment with this mail for the perusal 
> of list members.
>
> What amazed me at Delhi that the fruits were being sold for 50-60 rupees a 
> kilo and people were buying these.  This is a very high price for guavas in 
> India.  The guavas of the BEST INDIAN VARIETIES like Safeda (cream fruits) 
> and Allahabadi (light green fruits) sell 15-20 rupees a kilo in spite of 
> their excellent taste.  So it is the fancy colour which had raised the price 
> of red guavas by three times.
>
> I had worked with this variety from 1962 to 1967 when I was a research 
> assistant at a subtropical fruit research station.  So I have some knowledge 
> and practical experience this variety which I would like share with list 
> members.
>  a.. The guavas are mostly found in the Uttar Pradesh state of North India.
>  b.. The fruits are medium sized and average in taste.
>  c.. These are sold as Apple Guava in Delhi.  The other names are Bhadri and 
> Seb Dana Bhadri.  Seb means apple in Hindi.  Bhadri is a place in Eastern 
> Uttar Pradesh.
>  d.. It is not the main commercial variety though it sells at such a high 
> price.
>  e.. It is possible to cross apple guavas with Red Flesh variety guavas which 
> are green from outside but red (deep pink to be precisely) and a good number 
> of seedlings you get bear fruits that are red from outside as well as from 
> inside.  We had done it 1962 and had also selected some promising seedlings.  
> But there was big frost in 1966 and the plants were killed.  Due to some 
> administrative changes no one bothered to start the project again.  But some 
> young enterprising list member can do it now.
> Please feel free to write me for any additional information.
>
> Dr. Chiranjit Parmar
> Horticultural Consultant on Lesser Known Indian Fruits
> www.lesserknownindianplants.com