POMEGRANATE

all about

Pomegranate
Disclaimer :The information on performance of recommendations given in this book holds
good only when used under optimum conditions. Their performance may either change in
due course of time due to several factors or can vary under different systems of
management. Mishandling/negligence of the user can also result in damage/loss/non-
reproducibility of results. In this regard, HPSHIVA team accepts no legal responsibilities.
Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation & Value Addition (HPSHIVA)
Project, was conceived to harness the potential of horticulture in the subtropical
climate area of the state.

The main objective of HPSHIVA project is development of sub-tropical horticulture

on commercial lines in cluster approach besides providing sustainable livelihood
opportunities to the farmers, who have abandoned their cultivable land because of
menace of stray animals, monkeys & wild animals and to the youth population
migrating to urban areas to seek wages employment.

The project is being implemented by Department of Horticulture (DoH) and Jal

Shakti Vibhag (JSV) as implementing agency with the financial assistance from Asian
Development Bank (ADB).

As part of consultancy services under the project, “Package of Practices” for the
mandated fruit crops of HPSHIVA Project was developed by a team of experts from
Dr. YSP University of Horticulture & Forestry ,COHF- Neri, Hamirpur.

The booklet is an abridged version of PoP developed specifically for Pomegranate.

 Climate
Pomegranate is one of the most robust fruit, grown in a wide range of climate i.e., tropical, subtropical, arid and temperate
regions. It can be grown successfully up to an altitude of 1200m above mean sea level. Pomegranate behaves as deciduous
in temperate regions and evergreen or partially defoliated in tropical and subtropical areas, which also varies with cultivar.
Annual rainfall of 1,000 mm with long, hot and dry summer and mild winter are conducive for its growth. The optimum
temperature of 380C is considered ideal during fruit development and maturity. However, pomegranate can easily endure
temperatures up to 48°C along with desiccating winds.

Topography and soil

Pomegranate performs best in deep, alluvial soils and grown successfully in sandy to sandy loam soil. Light soils having pH
6.5 to 7.0, electrical conductivity 0.5 to 1.5 dsm-1 and organic carbon >1.0 percent are considered ideal for pomegranate
cultivation. Pomegranate produces good quality coloured fruits in light soils. Undulated topography is common on hills of
the state, so contour / terrace planting should be done at least in one-meter wide strip.

Recommended cultivars
Bhagwa : Bhagwa is one of the most important cultivar grown in Himachal Pradesh on account of its dark red arils,
attractive red coloured skin, soft seeded aril, good sugar:acid blend of juice and
13-140B TSS. The fruits become ready for harvesting within 170- 180 days after full bloom.

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Propagation
Pomegranate plants are mostly multiplied through cutting however in southern parts of the
country, pomegranate is propagated through air-layering. In North India, where pomegranate
behaves as deciduous plant, it is propagated mainly by
hardwood cuttings. Pomegranate plants multiplied through vegetative means viz., stem cuttings
and air layering are susceptible to challenging diseases and pests of pomegranate like bacterial
blight, wilt and nematodes. Therefore, the production of quality planting material free from
these maladies is of utmost importance. Nowadays, plant production through tissue culture Pomegranate Cuttings
technique has become more popular as the tissue cultured plants are uniform and free from
insect-pest and diseases.
Cuttings (Hardwood)
Pomegranate plants are successfully multiplied by hardwood and semi-hardwood cuttings under
mist system. Semi-hard wood cuttings of 6 month to one year old, pencil thickness and 20-25
cm length perform better. Hard-wood or semi-hard wood cutting planted during winter season
gives higher success rate. Under North Indian conditions cuttings are planted in February and
July under mist system. In July, cutting should not be taken from the lateral branches producing Root trainer raised cuttings
flowers and fruits.
Pomegranate cuttings dipped in IBA (2500 ppm) for 5 minutes produce fibrous root system,
which helps in better establishment of plants under field conditions. Pomegranate cuttings
planted in different media viz., mixture of cocopeat and sand (4:1) or cocopeat alone promotes
fast rooting and performs better. While planting, we should always treat and sanitize the
cuttings with Antimicrobial compound 2-bromo-2-nitro-1,3-diol @ 500mg/litre (0.5g/litre) +
carbendazim @ 1.0 g/litre for 5 minutes to reduce pests and disease infection.
Tissue culture Pomegranate Nursery

The demand of quality planting material of pomegranate is increasing day by day, for which large scale multiplication of
pomegranate plants through tissue culture is required and it is highly successful in pomegranate. Tissues culture plants are
free from all kind of infection (nematodes, wilt and bacterial blight) and are true-to-type. Synchronized flowering and
fruiting make tissue cultured plants more suitable for mechanical cultivation which results in better quality and high yield. It
provides disease-free planting material for introduction of pomegranate to non-traditional areas. Although, this technology
requires high initial investment, more care and skilled man power.

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 Layout and Planting
Spacing
Pomegranate should be planted at 3.0m × 3.0m spacing, accommodating 1,111 plants/ha of Bhagwa.
Layout
Pomegranate plants should be planted in square or rectangular planting systems. The orientation of the plants should be in
North–South direction.

Field Preparation Field Layout Pit Layout

Preparation of field, bed, planting pit and filling
• Deep ploughing should be done and raised bed (2-meter- wide at bottom × 1.5-
meter-wide at top × 45 cm height) should be prepared one month before planting.
• In hilly terrain, contour/terrace (1meter width) system of planting should be
adopted on undulated sloppy topography.
• A pit size of 60 × 60 × 60 cm size for planting should be dug one month before
planting and exposed to intense solar radiation. Raised Bed Technology
• Pit should be filled with mixture of top soil, farmyard manure (20kg), neem cake
(1kg) and single super phosphate (500g).
• Irrigation must be provided immediately after filling the pits to allow soil to settle.
• Planting can be done during winters or rainy season.
• Staking with wooden sticks should be provided to keep the young plants straight
and avoiding damage of shoots by winds. Use 60-80 cm long wooden sticks and tie
the main branches. Wooden sticks should be dipped in chloropyriphos (2ml/l) Preparation of Pit
solution for termite protection.
4
Canopy Management
Training and Pruning
Multi-stem training system
• Healthy saplings of 5-6 months old age should be planted and trained in multi-stem
training system (3-4 stems) to avoid loosing stems/plants due to infestation by stem
borer or any other disease.
• Training operation to develop structural framework should start after 3 months of
planting, when plants attain a height of 45-60 cm which may vary from place to place
• For multi-stem system, 3-4 healthy suckers should be allowed to develop and other
suckers must be removed regularly.
• All the branches up to 30 cm height should be removed.
• During the second phase, select 3-5 primary branches above 30 cm height in all
directions. The selection of primary and secondary branches should remain continuous
during the next year up to February month.
• The orientation of primary branches should be toward peripheral canopy at about 600
angles with stem.
Pruning
• Pruning should be done during winter months by removing dried twigs, inter-mingled branches, water shoots and
sprouts.
• All upright growing shoots should be removed during growing period.
• To induce cropping, heading back of tertiary branches/shoots of 5 mm thickness should be practiced during winters.
• Hard pruning of thick shoots should be discouraged.
• Major pruning is practiced during winter months and light pruning of new growth should be done during fruit setting by
removing all the new water shoots and water sprouts.
• Immediately after training and pruning, apply Bordeaux paste on the cut ends (>10 mm thickness) of the plants.
Operations to be done during pre-pruning & pruning
• Spray 1.0 % Bordeaux mixture 2 days before defoliation.
• Prune the twigs carefully.
• Sterilize the secateurs with sodium hypochlorite (2 to 3 ml/l), frequently.
• Remove weeds and suckers.
• The fallen leaves/pruned shoots from the orchard must be collected and burnt.

5
 Pollination
The major crop of pomegranate in the subtropics of Himachal Pradesh should be taken from the flower flush of April-May
(Ambe bahar). The flowers opening from June onwards should be removed as they appear. The flowers are on current year’s
growth found mostly in clusters, terminal or in axils of the leaves. Pomegranate plants carry hermaphrodite, intermediate
and staminate flowers in three flushes on new and old growth. The females can be identified by the miniature fruit/bulged
structure at the flower base which is the swollen ovary at the base of the bloom.

Orchard management
• The bed should be covered with mulch to check the weed population, conserve the soil moisture and regulate soil
temperature. Preferably organic mulching having 15-20 cm thick layer of uprooted weeds and dry grasses from the field is
considered economic and better for quality of the produce. Apply mulch to cover the root zone in accordance to the
spacing of plantation around the tree, keep mulch 10-30 cm away from the trunk. Mulching should be done in the month
of February which helps in conserving moisture and reducing weed growth.
• During the initial two to three years, the intercropping of different annual crops which do not complete with main crop
can be under taken as mentioned in the table to get additional income during initial years.
• Intercultural activities like weeding, irrigation and de-suckering should be performed regularly. Fast growing and non-
productive suckers should be removed as early as possible so as to reduce the competition for nutrition, irrigation and
light.
• The pomegranate orchards must be kept neat and clean from weeds as they may act as alternate host for several insect-
pest and diseases.
• Collect the dried infected fruits and twigs regularly and burn them properly to reduce the disease and pest inoculum in
the orchard.

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 Crops recommended for intercropping under high density planting

Sr. No. Crops Inter Crops Not be grown as Intercrops

Potato, Tomato, Brinjal, Okra, Cucumber,
Cabbage, Cauliflower, Pea,
1 Vegetable Pumpkin, Bottleguard, Bittergaurd, Parval,
Broccoli, Radish
Colocasia, Chilli, Capsicum
Turmeric, Ginger,Onion,
2 Spices Garlic,Coriander, Fennel,
Fenugreek

Beans, Soyabean, Blackgram (Urd), Greengram

3 Legumes Lentil, Horse Gram (Kulth)
(Moong), Kideybeen (Rajmash), Chickpea

Mustard, Spinach (Palak), Chino

4 Leafy Vegetable podium, Coriander, Fennel, -
Fenugreek

5 Fodder corps Barley, Oat Barseem, Jawar, Bajara

6 Cereals Crops/Oilseeds Wheat, Barley, Linseed Maize, Sugarcane, Ragi

7 Flowers Marigold, Gladiolus -

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 Nutrition management
Manure
Well decomposed FYM should be applied along with 50% P through single super phosphate (SSP) in the basin by band
placement during winter months before mid-February.
Age of plant (year) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th year onwards
FYM (kg plant-1) 10 10 15 20 20
Nutrient recommendation
The quantity of nutrients to be applied in through fertilizers HD orchard of pomegranate mainly depends on the age of
plant, condition of plant and soil type. The nutrient dose (g/tree) should be divided equally among the number of splits and
applied at weekly intervals. For proper growth and higher yield, following nutrient doses should be applied:
Fertigation Schedule for first 18 months (Till first Flowering)

1-18 Months Duration

N=375g/Tree P=187g/tree K=166g/tree
Oct. to March (Days) (Days)

October-December 90 42 21 20.5
January-March 90 42 21 20.5
April-June 90 83 42 31.3
July-September 90 83 42 31.3
October-December 90 62.5 30.5 31.3
January-March 90 62.5 30.5 31.3

Fertigation schedule for 19-24 months (Till first harvest)

19-24 Months April Duration

N=63 g/Tree P=62g/tree K=146g/tree
to September (Days) (Days)

April-Mid May 45 21 31 31
Mid May-June 45 21 31 31
July-August 60 21 0 84

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 Fertigation Schedule for first 18 months (Till first Flowering)

Duration
25-36 Months N=625 g/Tree P=250g/tree K=300 g/tree
(Days)
October-December 45 187.5 100 25
November-
45 No need of fertigation and irrigation
December
January- February 58 187.5 75 50
March- May 90 187.5 75 75
June-July 90 62.5 0 75
August 30 0 0 75

Cropping
In hilly terrains of Himachal Pradesh, single crop of pomegranate w.e.f., August to
October depending upon the altitude/microclimate is being taken up by the farmers
on account of deciduous behaviour of the plants in Northern India.
For better fruit set and cropping micronutrients should be applied as foliar spray of
0.2% (2g/litre ) solution of the needed nutrient (two sprays in April at 15 days
interval).

Recommended soil application rates of chelated micronutrients are: about 20g borax,
20g copper sulphate, 20g manganese sulphate, 20g iron, 20g zinc sulphate and 40g
magnesium sulphate per tree per year in February along with FYM application.
Nutrient distribution pattern

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 Irrigation Management
Pomegranate requires regular optimum moisture regime in the rhizosphere right from flowering to harvesting. The water
requirement of crop development and maturity period ranges from 28-45 litre/tree/biweekly. Excess or deficit moisture
situation lead to cracking of fruit along with poor yield and quality. So, uniform moisture in between field capacity and
wilting point is optimum. Fertigation is the most efficient way of supplying water and nutrients to the plant roots. In this, the
inputs are effectively utilized by plants as these are placed near crop root zone.
The drip line should be laid out at the time of planting of orchard with two drip lines having two inline drippers at 50 cm
apart each in the plant basin with 4.5 lph discharge. There should be a control unit/valve for each farmer holdings.

Irrigation scheduling
Irrigation (litres per tree biweekly*) schedule for Pomegranate
Age of plant (Years)
Period • Approx. Amount of irrigation water may vary
1 2 3 4 5
October 1 2 4 10 18 by 10-15 percent depending upon soil,
November 0.75 1.5 3 8 16 climate and prevailing weather conditions.
December 0.75 1.5 3 8 16
** During Rainy season from July to Sept
January 1.5 3 5 12 25
sufficient rainfall occurs in the subtropics of the
February 1.5 3 6 12 25 state. Therefore, under such situations there is
March 1.5 3 7.5 12 25 no need of irrigating the crops except in the
April 1.5 4 7.5 15 30 event of failure of the monsoon. During rainy
May 2 5 10 18 35 season moisture content underneath the mulch
June 3 6 14 20 35 should be maintained at optimum level.
July** 2 3 7.5 15 25 Irrigation should be given once in a week on the
August** 2 3 6 12 20 basis of soil moisture content keeping in view
September** 1.5 2 6 12 20 of the rains due to western disturbances.

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Harvesting
Maturity indices
Being a non-climacteric fruit, pomegranate fruits should be harvested after achieving proper maturity.
Sr. No. Maturity Indices Attributes
1 Fruit Colour Reddish with waxy shining surface
The bud at the anterior end of the fruit gets
2 Shape of crown and fruit curved inside and becomes hard and dry at
maturity. The fruit shape becomes compact

3 Sound The fruit gives a metallic sound when tapped.

Properly mature fruits are easily scratched

4 Scratch
with finger nails
The fruits become ready for harvest in 170-
5 Maturity Period
180 days after full bloom
The arils attain deep intensity of colour (Dark
6 Aril Colour
red- Bhagwa) with high juice recovery
7 Juice Colour Red colour of juice in Bhagwa
8 TSS 12-14º Brix
9 Titratable Acidity Below 0.8%
It is one of the most reliable maturity
10 TSS/acid ratio indicators. Mature fruit have TSS/ acid ratio
between 25 to 40

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 Harvesting, grading and packaging
• The fruit crop in pomegranate should be taken from second year onwards so as to allow proper growth and development
of plants.
• Secateurs must be used for fruit harvesting at right maturity.
• After harvesting, the fruits should be collected in plastic crates and should be pre-cooled to remove the field heat and
enhance the shelf life. Then, the fruits are graded and packed in Corrugated Fibre Board boxes. Grading is done to obtain
a reasonable price in market. Cracked, damaged, diseased and infested fruits should be removed. The fruits are graded
on the basis of their size, external appearance and quality.
Crop and grade regulation
• A grown-up, well managed tree at three years age gives 80-100 fruits annually, and increases by ten percent annually of
which 8-10% are of ‘A’ grade; 20-25% are of ‘B’ grade and the remaining are of ‘C’ and ‘D’ grades and cracked fruits.
However, fully grown tree (4-5 years age) produces approximately 100-150 fruits per plants.
• After the fruit set, do not allow fruits to develop in clusters and keep only solitary fruits.
• Allow flower set on inner/thicker shoots to develop in to fruits, remove those which are developed terminally on weaker
shoots.
• After fruit set, remove all the flowers coming thereafter.
Requirements for export:
Pomegranate must be carefully picked and have reached Size Weight in grams Diameter in
Skin Colour and quality
an appropriate degree of development and ripeness in code (min) mm. (min)
accordance with criteria proper to the variety and/or Good attractive bright
commercial type and to the area in which they are A 400 90 red colour and no spots
grown. The development and condition of the on skin
pomegranate must be such as to enable them to Attractive red colour
withstand transport and handling, and to arrive in B 350 80
and spot free
satisfactory condition at the place of destination. Size is
determined in accordance with the weight or maximum C 300 70 Bright red and spot free
diameter of the equatorial section of the fruit as shown Fully ripe bright red and
in table below. D 250 60
spot free
Yield Fully ripe bright red and
A fully-grown pomegranate tree of 5-6 years age will produce E 200 50
spot free
200-250 fruits per plant under optimum management
conditions. Provisions concerning sizing for export of pomegranate

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Diseases
Cercospora Leaf Spot Causal organism: Pseudocercospora punicae
Symptoms
• On leaves and fruits, light zonate brown spots appear.
• These leaf spots are minute, brown in colour with yellow halo.
• Spots are scattered, circular or irregular and become dark brown with age.
• Spots on lower side are sunken with grey colour due to clusters of spore bearing structures.

Pomegranate cercospora spot on leaf and Fruits

• On sepals of the flower, minute, circular, black spots appear.
• On Fruit, black, minute and circular spots appear on rind.
• Market value of fruits is reduced as the spots grow old, become large, irregularly circular and depressed presenting an
ugly look to the fruits.
• Black and elliptic spots appear on the twigs.
• The affected areas in the twigs dry up as become flattened and depressed with raised edge.
• Whole plant dies in severe cases.
Disease cycle and Epidemiology
• Infected leaves and diseased plant debris serve as primary source of inoculum
• Wind born conidia serve as secondary source of inoculum.
• The disease is serious during high humidity periods with temperature ranging between 20 and 27oC.
Management:
Cultural Methods
• Collect and destroy infected plant debris
Chemical methods
• Spray Carbendazim 1g/litre or Hexaconazole 1 ml/litre or Propiconazole 1 ml/litre and repeat at 10 to 14 days interval.

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 Bacterial Blight Causal organism: Xanthomonas axonopodis pv Punicae

Symptoms
• On leaves one to several small water soaked, dark coloured irregular spots appear leading to premature defoliation in
severe cases.
• Size of the spot varies from two to five mm in diameter consisting of necrotic centre of pin-head size.
• Spots are translucent which later turn light brown to dark brown and are surrounded by prominent water-soaked
margins. Spots coalesce and give rise to large patches.
• Infection also occurs on stem and branches. Branches break down.
• Girdling and cracking of nodes occur on the stem following the brown to black spots around the nodes.
• Dark brown, irregular slightly raised spots with oily appearance are formed on fruits, which split open with L-shaped
cracks under severe cases.

14
Host range: Pomegranate is the only natural host of this bacterium

Disease cycle and Epidemiology

• The bacterium survives on the tree.
• The pathogen survives for 120 days on the fallen leaves during the season.
• The primary infection is through infected cuttings and disease spreads through wind splashed rains.
• High temperature and low humidity favour the disease. Temperature of 30 to 34oC, relative humidity of 80 to 85% is
favourable for multiplication of pathogen.
• Continuous/intermittent rainfall for a longer period, maximum temperature between 29.4 to 35.60C and minimum
temperature between 19.5 to 27.30C and relative humidity from 63 to 87 % are favourable for the development and
spread of the disease.

Management:
Cultural methods
• Pruning at correct stage would reduce the disease.
• Clean cultivation and strict sanitation is useful to reduce the disease incidence.
• Collect and burn the fallen leaves
• Spraying of 1 per cent urea solution to fallen leaves enhances the degradation
• Bleaching on to the fallen leaves reduces the inoculum

Chemical methods
• Spraying with Bordeaux mixture 1.0% (10g each of copper sulphate and lime / liter of water) or streptocycline@ 0.05%
(0.5g per litre of water) or copper oxychloride at 0.3% (3 g per litre of water) controls the disease.

15
 Anthracnose Causal organism: Colletotrichum spp.

Symptoms
• Symptoms appear as small regular or irregularly shaped light violet or
black leaf spots with yellow halos.
• Leaves initially turn yellow and then fall out.
• Symptoms appear on flowers as well.
• Both young and mature fruits develop spots which are initially
circular, turning irregular with sunken centres, brown to dark
brown and cover the fruit partly or completely.
• Minute, black dots representing acervuli are clearly visible on the
fruits.
Disease cycle and Epidemiology
• The pathogen survives in affected plant parts as dormant mycelia
• Spreads through airborne conidia produced in acervulus.
• Mode of entry is through stomata
• The disease is severe during the months of August-September when relative humidity is high and the temperature ranges
between 20-27ºC
Management:
Cultural methods
• Removal of infected plant debris.
• On fallen leaves or affected plant parts, spray nitrogen solution or bleaching powder to enhance degradation.
• Pruning and burning of all affected branches followed by application of Bordeaux paste or Copper oxychloride paste on
cut ends.
Chemical methods
• Spray the crop with systemic fungicides like Hexaconazole @1ml/litre or Carbendazim @ 1g/litre and repeat at 20 days
interval.
• Foliar spray with Mancozeb (2.5 g /l) is also equally effective.

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Fruit Rot Causal organism: Alternaria alternata

Host range: Strawberry, hazelnut, pomegranate, date palm, kiwi, persimmon, okra, onion spinach, Amaranthus and many
more
Symptoms
• Alternaria fruit rot is also known as black heart.
• Wounds must occur after flower initiation for the infections to occur.
• On fruits, small reddish-brown circular spots appear. As the disease progresses, these spots coalesce to form larger
patches and the fruits start rotting.
• The arils get affected which become pale brown to black and become unfit for consumption.

Disease cycle and Epidemiology

• Alternaria species survive in diseased plant debris and can persist for one to two years.
• Primary infection takes place through conidia formed on crop debris in soil.
• Conidia developed on primary spots serve as secondary source of inoculum.
• Wind, water and insects help the conidia to disperse to the neighbouring leaves\ plants.
• The optimum temperature for infection of for A. Alternate ranges between 20-25oC.
Management:
Cultural methods
• All the affected fruits should be collected and destroyed
Chemical methods
• Spraying mancozeb @ 0.25% (2.5 g / litre) effectively controls the disease

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 Insect Pest Management
Important insect-pests infesting pomegranate in sub tropical zone of Himachal Pradesh are listed below:

Pomegranate butterfly / Anar butterfly Deudorix Isocrates Lycaenidae: Lepidoptera

Host
It is the most important and destructive pest of pomegranate and distributed throughout the country, also infesting guava,
annona, apple, ber, citrus, litchi, tamarind, wood apple, soap nut, etc.

Symptoms & Damage

• Offensive smell and excreta of caterpillar at the entry hole.
• The affected fruits ultimately falling down.
• The fruit appears healthy but the caterpillar inside feeds on pulp and seeds just below the rind. It is only when the grown
up caterpillar comes out, a round hole is seen through which juices come out.
• Feeding injury also causes rotting of the fruits. Up to 50% fruit damage is observed.

Infested Fruit

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Life Cycle
• Butterfly is bluish brown with an orange spot on each of the forewings and
black spots on the hindwings with a tail like extension at the lower margin of
hindwings.
• It is active in bright sun.
• Eggs are laid singly on calyx of flowers or tender fruits. Egg period is 7-10
days.
• Caterpillar is stoutly built dirty brown in colour, with light patches, a few
short hairs and measures about 16-20 mm long.
• Larva after hatching bores into the fruit and feeds on the seeds. Entry hole
heals up.
• A single fruit may harbour half a dozen caterpillars.
• Larval period is 18-47 days. The full grown larva comes out, secures the stalk
of the fruit to the stem with a silky secretion, returns to inside of fruits and Adult
pupates on fruit stalk.
• Pupal period 7-34 days. Total life cycle takes about 1-2 months. There may be
4 overlapping generations in a year.
Management
• Destruction of fallen infested fruits checks the spread.
• Removal of flowering weeds especially of Compositae family.
• Though expensive, bagging of fruits with polythene or paper bags or cloth bags soon after the fruit set prevents the pest
attack.
• Initiate the spray schedule with the onset of flowering with any of following insecticides:
• Cypermethrin (1ml/l) or spinosed (0.2ml/l) chlorantraniliprole (0.3ml/l) or indoxacarb (0.25ml/l)
• Repeat the spray at 15-20 day interval.
• About 3 to 4 sprays are needed for effective control of the pest, as it continues to attack flowers (flowering in
pomegranate remains for a longer time).

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 Thrips Anaphothrips oligochaetus (flower and fruit thrips) Rhipiphorothrips cruentatus
Leaf thrips Scirtothrips dorsalis Thripidae: Thysanoptera
Host
Pomegranate

Symptoms & Damage

• These are found through out country. A. oligochaetus infests flower stalks, sepals, petals and fruits with their rasping
sucking type of feeding.

Microscopic view of Thrip Adult Thrips Thrips infestation on pomegranate

• As a result, flowers are shed and fruits show scab like rough surface.
• R. cruentatus and S. dorsalis lacerate the leaves and suck oozing out sap causing curling of leaves.

Management
At flower bud initiation, foliar spray with acetamiprid (0.5ml/l) or imidacloprid (0.5ml/l) is effective.

20
Physiological Disorder
The major physiological disorders in pomegranate are fruit cracking, sun scald and aril browning. Proper management of
these physiological disorders is essential to get good quality yield.

Fruit cracking:
Fruit cracking is a major problem in pomegranate growing areas and about 30 -50% fruit cracking has been observed during
maturity. It also varies with variety, season and climate.
In fruit cracking, xylem and phloem tissue loose their ability to divide and enlarge. In summer, after a long dry spell when
water supply or irrigation is resumed and meristematic tissue quickly resume growth but due to uneven growth rate fruit
splitting occurs, while during winter fluctuating moisture and temperature causes cracking. Nutrients like boron, calcium,
copper, zinc, molybdenum, manganese and potash are involved in different physiological activities during fruit growth and
development. Deficiencies of nutrients along with imbalanced use of nutrients also cause cracking. In young orchard, fruit
cracking is due boron deficiency while in old orchard moisture imbalance and fluctuating temperature are major factor
associated with fruit cracking. Fruits split generally when rains come or irrigation is given after a long dry spell.

Management
• Apply adequate and regular irrigation during fruiting season.
• Spray of gibberellic acid @ 20 ppm (2g/100 litre), calcium chloride 2.0 % (20g/litre) and boron 0.2% (2g/litre) at fruit
enlargement and 1 month before harvest can help in reducing cracking.

21
 Sun Scald
During summers, sun scald is also serious disorder in improper canopy managed orchard. Surface of fruits which are
towards sun light turns brownish black due to intensive scorching heat during hot months particularly during July.
Management
• Proper training and pruning is required to avoid the direct exposure of fruits to sunlight.
• Shading with 35% shade net is helpful in reducing sunburn on pomegranate fruit.
• Bagging of fruits with cover bags is also useful in minimizing sun sunscald problem. White colour bags are more efficient
in reflecting sunlight.

Aril browning
It is due to delayed harvesting in which arils become brown and start rotting.
Management
• The harvesting should not be delayed beyond maturity period.
• The pomegranate fruits should be harvested as soon as they mature viz., between 170- 180 days after blooming in
Bhagwa.

Post-Harvest Management
Storage
Pomegranate fruit can be stored for 2-3 months successfully at a temperature of 5-70C with 90-95% relative humidity. This
temperature range needs to be kept throughout the transport and further storage. The temperature should never go below
the 50C, otherwise it will result in chilling injury.

Packing & transportation

The pomegranates fruits are packed in white or red colored CFB boxes having 3-5 plies for domestic markets. The cut pieces
of waste of newspaper are used as cushioning material for the fruits. The fruits can be shipped through road transport by
trucks/lorries from orchards to the market.

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Notes

23
 Notes

24
 For more details contact:
Project Management Unit (PMU) HPSHIVA
Directorate of Horticulture,
Department of Horticulture, Himachal Pradesh,
Navbahar, Shimla, 171002 (India)
Tel : (0177) 2841120
E-mail: pmuhpshiva@[Link]