Pomegranate Fruit Farming

General Information

Pomegranate known as Anar in Hindi, is commercial crop of India. Its origin lies in Persia. It is a rich source of carbohydrates, proteins, calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin C. Pomegranate eaten as fresh fruit also its juice is cool and refreshing. Along with juice, each and every part of pomegranate have some medicinal value. Its root and peel used to cure diarrhoea, dysentery and worm killing in the intestines. Its petals are used for preparing dyes. Maharashtra is major producer of Pomegranate. Other states like Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana are also cultivating pomegranate on small scale.

Climate

  • Season

    Temperature

    38-40°C

Soil

It can be grown on variety of soils. For optimum growth and yield, it required deep loamy and alluvial soils. It is tolerant to loamy and slightly alkaline soils. It is also cultivated on poor soils. Also medium and black soils are suitable for pomegranate cultivation.

Popular Varieties With Their Yield

Ganesh:  Fruits are of medium size. Its peel is having yellow coloured with pink blush. The TSS of juice varies from 13% to 16%. Gives fruit yield of 6-7 tonnes per acre.

Jodhpur Local:
  Fruits are of Medium size with hard rind. Fruits are juicy, sweet  and seeds are moderately hard.,

Kandhari: Fruits are of big size with yellow coloured peel and red splash. TSS of juice varies from 13-15%. It gives average yield 4-4.8 tonnes per acre.

Seedless (Bedana): Fruits are medium to large in size. Fruits are sweet, very juicy and soft seeded.

Jyothi: This variety is dwarf and evergreen. Gives average juice yield of 75% on the basis of grains weight. TSS content of juice is about 17%. Gives average yield 3.2 tonnes per acre.

Mridula: Fruits having red coloured rind. Its grains are also blood red in colour. The juice is 78 percent on the basis of grain weight. TSS content of juice is about 17-18%.

Ruby: It fruits are of small size and having red coloured. Average Juice percentage is 80 and TSS content is about 15%.
 

Land Preparation

Plough the land for two - three times and bring soil to fine tilth. After then carried out planking operation to make land levelled and uniform.

 

Sowing

Time of sowing
In Spring season, February-March is optimum time for planting and July-August in sub-tropical and tropical regions respectively.

Spacing

Optimum spacing is depend on soil type and climate. For Pomegranate planting, if square system of planting is  adopted, use spacing of 5m x 5m.

Sowing Depth
For sowing dug Pits of 60 x 60 x 60 cm size about a month prior to planting. Keep open pit under the sun for a fortnight. Then filled pits with top soil mixed with 20kg of farmyard manure and 1 kg of super phosphate. After filling pit, apply water. It will settle down the soil.
 
Method of sowing
Transplanting of seedlings in main field.

Pomegranate is propagated through air layering method.  Air layering is done in rainy season as well as in November-December month. For air layering select one to two year old, healthy, mature shoot having length of 45-60cm with pencil thickness.

Seed

Seedling Treatment
Before sowing, dipped seedling or cutting in IBA solution of 1000PPM@1gm/Ltr of water.

Fertilizer

Nutrient Requirement (gm/tree)

Age of plant

Well decomposed cowdung

(kg/plant)

UREA

(gm/tree)

SSP

(gm/tree)

MOP

(gm/tree)

1st year 8-10 100 250 50
2nd year 15-20 200 500 50
3rd year 25-30 1300 1750 100
4th year 31-40 1400 1000 150
5th year and ownward 40-50 1500 1250 150

 

During first year apply, well decomposed cowdung@10kg/plant, Urea@100gm, SSP@250gm and MOP@50gm per plant. Apply whole quantity of cowdung, SSP, Potash and half quantity of Urea six week before flowering. Apply remaining quantity of Urea at time of fruit development.
Keep removing inflorescence during initial three years. For good growth and yield, start bearing from 3-4 years onwards.

Irrigation

Apply irrigation immediately after planting. After then give water at interval of 3 days upto 10-15 days after planting. 
In rainy season, provide drainage facility as it cannot withstand in water logged conditions. In summer apply water at interval of 7-10 days and in winter increased irrigation interval to 10-15 days.

Irregular irrigation can lead to flower drop. Water stress during fruit development stage and heavy watering after water stress leads to fruit cracking, and then fruit drop. So provide regular and sufficient irrigation from flowering to harvesting stage. Pomegranate responds well to drip irrigation. Drip irrigation, not only saves water but gives higher yield in small quantity of water.

Weed Control

To control weeds, mulching can be done. Along with weed control, it helps to conserved moisture and reduce evaporation loss.

Pruning and Training

Training and Pruning help in growth of fresh healthy shoots. It removes old also disease branches and avoids overcrowding of branches. It also maintain proper shape of plant.

Plant protection

Thrips
  • Pest and their control:

Thrips: If thrips infestation is observed, take spray of Fipronil 80%WP@20ml/15Ltr of water.

Fruit Fly

Fruit Fly: It lay eggs on fruit rind/skin. After hatching they feed on pulp. Affected fruits get rot and then drop.

Keep cleanliness in field. At time of flowering and fruit development, take spray of Carbaryl 50WP@2-4gm or Quinalphos 25EC@2ml/Ltr of water.

Mealy Bug

Mealy Bug: Its nymphs, start crawling on trees and feed on young flowers. Also secrete honeydew like substance and black mould is developed on it.
As a preventive measure, fastened, 25cm width Polythene(400gauge) strip around tree trunk to stop ascent of nymphs before hatching of eggs in month of Nov and Dec. keep orchard clean. If infestation is observed, take spray of Thiamethoxam 25WG@0.25gm/Ltr or Imidaclopird 17 SL@0.35ml/Ltr or Dimethoate 30 EC@2ml/Ltr of water.

Aphid

Aphid: Infestation of Aphids is observed take Spray of Thiamethoxam 25WG@0.20gm/Ltr or Imidacloprid @0.35ml/Ltr of water.

Shoot Borer

Shot hole borer: If infestation is observed, to control take spray of Chlorpyriphos20EC@2ml/Ltr or Cypermethrin @60ml/150Ltr respectively.

Fruit Spot
  • Disease and their control:

Fruit spots: If infestation is observed take spray of Mancozeb or Copper oxychloride@2.5gm/Ltr of water.

Fruit Rot

Fruit rot: To control fruit rot, take spray of Streptocycline@50gm + Copper oxychloride@400gm/150Ltr of water. Take second spray 15 days after first spraying.

Wilt

Wilt: If infestation is observed, do drenching of Carbendazim@5gm/5Ltr to infected plant also other plants surrounding diseases plants.

Harvesting

After flowering, fruits gets mature within 5-6months. When fruit changes its color from green to light yellow or red i.e fruits start ripening, it is optimum time for harvesting. Avoid delay in harvesting as it will lead to fruit cracking and thus leads to yield loss.

Post-Harvest

After harvesting, stored fruits in shades for a one week. It will help in hardening of fruit skin. So that less damage is observed in transportation. Fruits are graded according to weight.