Hello sir
The unit cost has been worked out to Rs.55000/- per ha. The orchard can give economic yield up to 30 years.
Climate : Pomegranate prefers dry climate. During fruit development, prolonged hot and dry climate is required. Optimum temperature congenial for fruit development is 38 degree C. In humid climate the fruits are severely damaged by pomegranate butterfly and do not develop sweetness. It is winter hardy and very drought tolerant. It can grow up to an elevation of 1850 meters.
Soil : It grows under wide variety of soils and can tolerate even alkalinity and salinity to certain extent. However, best results are obtained in deep heavy loam and well drained soils. It is sensitive to soil moisture fluctuations causing fruit cracking which is a serious problem of this crop.
Varieties and Propagation : In recent years several new varieties have been developed and new orchards have come with well-known improved varieties.
recent variety: Bhagwa it gives medium to big size fruit. Red coloured. if provided with growth regulators bears thriughout the year.
Ganesh : This is a selection from ‘Alandi’ developed by Dr. Cheema at Pune which has revolutionized cultivation of pomegranate in Maharashtra state. This has soft seeds and pinkish flesh with juice of agreeable taste and bears heavily.
Dholka : Popular variety of Gujarat with fruits of large size, rind greenish yellow, flesh aril pinkish white seeds soft, juice acidic. It is a medium cropper.
Jodhpur Local : Medium sized fruit with hard rind, fleshy aril light pink, sweet, juicy, seed moderately hard.
Seedless (Bedana) : Fruit medium to large in size, rind brownish green, fleshy aril light pink or whitish, very sweet, very juicy, soft seeded. ‘Bassein seedless & KVK – 1’ are from Karnataka and ‘Jalore Selection’ are popular names in north India. In South India, ‘Paper Shell’, ‘Spanish Ruby’, ‘Muscat Red’ & ‘Velladu’ have shown promise.
Vegetative propagation is recommended in establishing pomegranate. Propagation by cuttings is common. Cuttings should be taken from suckers which spring from the base of the main stem and should be mature about 20 to 30 cm long and 6-12 mm thick. Rainy season is the best period to achieve maximum success.
Cultural Practice :
Planting distance would depend on soil type and climate. Old orchards were planted at 3 to 6 m space. Nowadays with new dwarf varieties a spacing of 4 x 4 m is recommended which accommodates 625 plants/ha.
Training & Pruning : Multi stem training is more prevalent and useful also because due to some reason even if the plant losses one stem it contains others to survive.
Pomegranate fruits are borne terminally on short spurs arising from mature shoots. These bear fruits for 3 to 4 years. Only limited pruning of trees are required. The gradual growth of new shoots should be encouraged by restricted cutting back of bearing
After harvesting, fruits can be cured in shade for about a week so that the skin becomes hard and fruits can stand transportation better. Thereafter, the fruits can be graded according to weight
‘A’ grade - 350 g & above
‘B’ grade - 200 to 350 g & above
‘C’ grade - Less than 200 g.
kirti
