Content

Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

Course Name Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

Lesson 12 Production Technology of Pomegranate
Course Revisor Name MANOJ KUNDU
University/College Name Bihar Agricultural University, Bhagalpur
Course Reviewer Name Jitendra Singh
University/College Name Agriculture University Kota, Kota

1
 Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

Glossary:

Bari:
Tea plantation in which trees are allowed togrow without pruning to
produce seed.
Bark:
The tough exterior covering of a woody stem orroot outside the cambium.
Bark grafting:
A method of grafting in which dormant scion isInserted between the bark
and wood of aRootstock.
Bark inversion:
A method of grafting for dwarfing a plant inwhich a complete ring of a bark
is removed fromthe trunk, inverted and regrafted into place.
Bark ringing:
The removal of a ring of bark from the trunk ofa plant to regulate shoot
growth and flowering.
Learning Objective:
 To learn about the cultivation aspect of pomegranate in details
 To receive a basic knowledge about the problems associated with
pomegranate cultivation along with their remedial measures
Introduction:
 Pomegranate (Punica granatum) belongs to the family Punicaceae, was
originated from Iran, having chromosome number 2n= 2x= 16/18.
 It is an important and favorite table fruit.

2
 Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

 To highlight its importance it was chosen as a symbol of the 18th

international Horticultural Congress held during 1970, sowing it in a
basket.
 The fruit type of pomegranate is balusta (modified form of berry) while
edible part is Juicy seed coat or aril
Area, production and productivity
 In India, the total area coverage of pomegranate is 234000 ha with total
production of 2845000 tonnes while the productivity is 12.16 t/ha.
 In India, Maharastra has maximum area coverage and production of
pomegranate (147910 ha and 1789460 tonnes, respectively) followed
by Gujarat (30510 ha and 461750 tonnes, respectively) and Karnataka
(25970 ha and 268230 tonnes, respectively).
Economic Importance
 Commercially grown for its sweet-acidic fruit used for dessert
purposes
 Used to prepare cool refreshing drinks
 Having medicinal properties
 Wild pomegranate is too acidic and used as souring gent (anardana)
 Double flowered pomegranate which do not bear fruit, used as
ornamental due to their bright red coloured flowers.

Species
 The genus Punica having 2 species-
- Punica granatum- cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical part of the
world for its fruits.
3
 Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

- Punica protopunica- Grown in wild form

Botany:
 It grows as a shrub but can be trained on modified leader system as a
small tree.
 Pomegranate is a evergreen as well as deciduous in nature. Shrub
trained plants remain smaller than single stemmed trained as tree.
 It is hardy tree and can live over 40 years.
 The leaves have small petioles and are oval to lanceolate in shape.
 The shoots have thrones which originate deep from the wood. It bears
very beautiful red coloured flowers.
 Flowers may be solitary, axillary or appear in clusters on short spurs.
The calyx is persistent and tubular with 5-7 petals inserted in calyx.
Ovary has many locules.
 Pomegranate fruits are a modified form of berry which is commonly
known as balusta.
 The edible portion is aril (juicy covering of seed).

Soil and climate:

 Pomegranate thrives well in semiarid conditions.
 It can adapt wide range of soil and climatic condition.
 Deep loam to sandy loam soils are considered ideal.
 It can tolerate alkaline/saline soils with 9 pH.
 It can grow in light soils but with assured irrigation.
 It requires hot and dry summers with cool winters.
 It is tolerant to frost and freeze fairly well.
 Very high temperature in summers and too low in winters encourages
fruit cracking.
 The tree requires hot and dry climate for the production of high quality
fruits.

4
 Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

Cultivars:
 Most of the cultivars originated as seedling selections. Some promising
cultivars have also been developed through controlled hybridization.
The recommended cultivars are area specific. For example-
Alandi and Muskati – for Maharastra;
Madhugiri, Basein Seedless and Jyoti – for Karnataka;
Dholka – for Gujarat;
Jodhpur Red, Jodhpur White, Jalore Seedless – for Rajasthan,
Chawla, Nabha, Country Large Red – for Haryana;
Velludu – for Tamil Nadu.
The characteristic feature of some commercially grown pomegranate
cultivars are as follows-
 Ganesh: A seedling selection from Alandi made by G.S. Cheema at Pune.
Plants bear profusely and regularly. This cultivar revolutionized the
pomegranate cultivation in Maharastra.
 G137: It is a clonal selection of Ganesh
 P23 and P26: Clonal selection from Muskati
 Mridula: It is a hybrid between Ganesh × Gul-e-Shah Red
 Jyoti: It is a hybrid between Bassein Seedless × Dholka
 Ruby: It is a hybrid between Ganesh × Kabul × Yercaud × Gulsha Rose
Pink
 Bhagwa – Export variety of pomegranate

Propagation:
 The commercial method of propagation is hard wood cutting.
 The maturity of shoots used for cutting plays a great role in the rooting
process. For getting healthy and precocious plants, one season old
cutting should be prepared during first week of December.
 The length of cutting should be 20-25 cm.

5
 Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

 Treatment on the lower ends of these cutting with 100 ppm IBA solution
for 24 hrs before planting in the nursery is advisable for better rooting.
Planting:
 It should be planted on square system of planting at a distance of 5 m ×
5 m apart.
 Evergreen cultivars may be planted at 4m × 4m distance.
 Pit should be prepared one month prior to planting at 1m x 1m x 1m
size.
 The best time for planting is December – January.

Training:
 Plant can be trained as single stemed tree and 2-4 stemed bushes
(evergreen). Multi stemed trained plants create problems later on as
the stems intermingle with each other.
 Training on single stem provide strong scaffold system. In this case, no
branches should be allowed to develop from ground level to 30 cm of
trunk height. When the plant reaches to the height of 1 m, heading back
should be done to force the scaffolds to develop. Only 4-5 well placed
scaffolds on all sides of the main trunk shold be retained.
Pruning:
 Do not require annual pruning.
 The fruit is borne on short spurs as well as in the leaf axil and also at
shoot apex.
 Remove only criss-crossed and dried branches.
 Some branches may be headed back during December by removing 30%
of the growth to encourage fresh growth.

Crop Regulation:

6
 Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

 The evergreen cultivars have 3 flowering season in a year – Ambe bahar

(Flowering in March - April), Mrigbahar (Flowering in June-July) and
Hasta bahar (Flowering in October - November). Hence, to obtain good
quality fruits and high yield, it is the pre-requisite to select only one
bahar as suited in that particular area/region and remove the flowers
manually for rest of the bahars.
 Deciduous cultivars only bear Ambe bahar crop (flowering in March -
April).

Irrigation:
 Apply irrigation just after transplanting the plants in December.
 Light and frequent irrigation should be given at an interval of 20 to 10
days from January to May and at weekly interval from May to end of
July.
 No irrigation may be given if rains come in.
 Increase the interval of irrigation after the harvesting of fruits in Aug –
Sep. The interval of irrigation at that time may be one month.
 Deciduous cultivars may not be applied any irrigation during Dec-Jan
when leaf fall starts.

Intercropping:
 Pomegranate has short juvenile period. Plants are also planted closely
and remain bushy and spreading in nature. Hence, no intercrop should
be grown.
 When planting distance is more than 4 × 4 m, then intercrop can be
grown for the first 2-3 years.
 Growing of vegetables and pulses should be preferred over rabi crops
and fodder crops.

Manuring and fertilization:

7
 Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

 Pomegranate is a hardy crop, growing successfully in low fertile soils.

 Its productivity is greatly increased by the application of manures and
fertilizers.
 Application of 10 kg FYM and 75 g ammonium sulphate to 5 year old
tree is adequeate whereas application of 50 kg FYM and 3.5 kg oil cake
or 1 kg sulphate of ammonium prior to flowering is ideal for healthy
growth and fruiting.
 For bearing tree, application of 600-700 g N, 200-250 g P2O5 and 200-
250 g K2O/tree/year is optimum.

Harvesting: Being a non-climacteric fruit, it should be harvested at fully

ripening stage. The maturity indices for pomegranate are-
- Ready for harvesting around 120-130 days after fruit set.
- Calyx at the distal end of the fruit gets closed on maturity
- Distinct sound of grains cracking inside when slightly pressed from
outside
- Skin turns slightly yellow

Yield: Yield starts from 4th year with 20-25 fruits/tree while at maturity is goes
up to 100-150 fruits/tree
Physiological disorders:
Fruit cracking:
 Fruit cracking, a serious problem, is more intense under dry condition
of the arid zone.
 It is mainly due to deficiency of boron, calcium and prolong dry spell
followed by heavy rains, fluctuation of soil moisture, wide difference
between day and night temperature and relative humidity.
 Mrigbahar crops are more prone to cracking.

8
 Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

 It can be managed through maintaining soil moisture and not allowing

wide variation in soil moisture depletion, cultivating tolerant varieties
like Bedana Bosec, Khog and Jalore Seedless.
 Spraying of borax @0.1% or Ca(OH)2 on leaves and fruits starting from
fruit set, spraying of GA3 @250 ppm in the month of June can also
prevent the cracking problem of pomegranate.
Internal breakdown:
 Disintegration of aril in mature pomegranate is known as internal
breakdown or blackening of arils, is a serious disorder of pomegranate.
 It cannot be identified externally, whereas the arils become soft, light,
creamy brown to dark blackish brown and unfit for consumption.
 It is increasing rapidly in the pomegranate growing pockets in western
Maharastra.
 The incidence occurs 90 days after anthesis.
 Its intensity increased if the fruits are left on the tree for more than 140
days.
 The incidence is more on ambe bahar.
 It increases with the increase in weight of fruits from 150-200 g to more
than 350 g.
 The TSS, acidity, ascorbic acid, reducing sugars, Ca, P and catalase
enzymes are reduced whereas non-reducung sugars, starch, tannin, N,
K, Mg, B and enzyme PPO and per oxidase increases in the affected arils
as compared to healthy ones.
 The exact causes are not known and remedial measures are difficult to
advocate. Therefore harvesting of fruits at 120-135 days after fruit set
is advisable.