POMEGRANATE (2024)

POMEGRANATE

1.INTRODUCTION

Pomegranate(Punica granatum) is one of the commercially importantfruit crops of India. It is native to Iran (Persia).

2. OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this report is to present a one acre bankable model for high quality commercial cultivation of the crop. 

3. BACKGROUND

3.1Area & Production

Pomegranate is cultivatedcommercially only in Maharashtra. Small scale plantations are also seen inGujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu , Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,Punjab and Haryana.

3.2 Economic Importance

Fruit is consumed fresh or in the form of juice, jam, squash and syrup. Among all forms, canned slices and juice are in much demand in India, constituting about 70% of the production. 

4. MARKET ANALYSIS AND STRATEGY

4.1Export/Import Trends

India exportspomegranate mainly to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Netherlandsetc. Varieties which are in demandinternationally include Ganesh and Aarakta. The trend in export of pomegranate from India during the period1999-2000 to 2001-02 is given in Graph 1.

4.2Analysis and Future Strategy

Development of infrastructurefacilities for transport to primary markets, standardization of packagingtechniques are aspects which need special attention. Processing facilities also need to be created in the majorproducing states for value addition.

5.PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY

5.1Agro-climatic requirements

Pomegranate grows well undersemi-arid conditions and can be grown upto an altitude of 500 m. above m.s.l..It thrives well under hot, dry summer and cold winter provided irrigationfacilities are available. The tree requires hot and dry climate during fruitdevelopment and ripening. Pomegranate tree is deciduous in areas of low wintertemperature and an evergreen or partially deciduous in tropical andsub-tropical conditions. It can tolerate frost to a considerable extent indormant stage, but is injured at temperature below - 11⁰ C.

Well drained, sandy loan to deeploamy or alluvial soils is suitable for cultivation.

5.2Varieties Cultivated

5.3Land Preparation

Land is prepared by ploughing,harrowing, leveling and removing weeds.

5.4Planting

5.4.1Planting Material

Pomegranate ispropagated vegetatively by cuttings, air layering or gootee.

5.4.2Planting season

Air layering isusually done during the rainy season and also in November-December. Planting is usually done in spring(February-March) and July-August in sub-tropical and tropical regionsrespectively.

5.4.3Spacing

High densityplanting is adopted in temperate regions. A spacing of 5-6 m. in northern Indiaand also in the plains of Deccan plateau is usually followed. High density planting with a spacing gives2-2.5 times more yield than that obtained when the normal planting distance of5 X 5 m. is adopted. Farmers have adopted a spacing of 2.5 X 4.5 m. Closerspacing increases disease and pest incidence.

5.4.4Planting Method

Square system of planting is mostlyadopted. Planting distance is decided on the basis of soil type and climate. Aspacing of 4-5 m. on marginal and very light soils is recommended.

Pits of 60 X 60 X 60 cm. size aredug (at a spacing of 5 cm. in square system) about a month prior to plantingand kept open under the sun for a fortnight. About 50 g. of 5% BHC or carbaryldust is dusted on the bottom and sides of the pits as a pre-caution againsttermites. The pits are filled with top soil mixed with 20 kg. farmyard manureand 1 kg. super phosphate. After filling the pit, watering is done to allowsoil to settle down. Cuttings/air layers are then planted and staked. Irrigationis provided immediately after planting.

5.5Nutrition

The recommended fertilizer dose is600-700 g. N, 200-250 g. P₂O₅ and 200-250 g. K₂O/tree/year. Application of 10 kg. farmyard manure and 75 g. ammonium sulphateto 5 year old tree annually is adequate , whereas application of 50 kg.farmyard manure and 3.5 kg. oil cake or 1 kg. sulphate of ammonia prior toflowering is ideal for healthy growth and fruiting. The time of application is December/January for ambe bahar,May/June for Mrig bahar and October/November for hasthe bahar.

The basal dose of farmyard manure @25-40 cart-loads /ha. besides the recommended doses of N, P and K should beapplied to non-bearing trees in 3 split doses coinciding with growth of flushesduring January, June and September. Fruiting should be encouraged from fourthyear onwards. Nitrogenous fertilizer is applied in two split doses starting atthe time of first irrigation after bahar treatment and next at 3 weeks interval,whereas full dose of P and K should be applied at one time. These should beapplied in a shallow circular trench below tree canopy not beyond a depth of8-10 cm. After application, fertilizers are covered with top soil andirrigated.

5.6Irrigation

First irrigation is provided in caseof mrig bahar crop in the middle of May followed by regular irrigation till themonsoon sets in. Weekly irrigation in summers and that during winters atfortnightly intervals is recommended. The check basin system of irrigation isusually followed.

5.6.1Drip Irrigation

The average annual water requirementthrough drip irrigation is 20 cm. Drip irrigation helps to save 44% onirrigation and 64% when sugarcane trash mulch is used. It also helps toincrease the yield by 30-35%.

5.7Training

Plants are trained on a single stemor in multi-stem system. Since the crops trained on single stem training systemare more susceptible to pests viz. stem borer and shoot hole borer, the othersystem is more prevalent in the country.

5.8Pruning

Pruning is not much required exceptfor removal of ground suckers , water shoots, cross branches , dead anddiseased twigs and also to give shape to the tree. A little thinning andpruning of old spurs is done to encourage growth of new ones.

5.9Inter-cropping

Inter-cropping with low growingvegetables, pulses or green manure crops is beneficial. In arid regions,inter-cropping is possible only during the rainy season, whereas wintervegetables are feasible in irrigated areas.

5.10 Regulation of bearing

Pomegranate plants flower and provide fruits throughout the year in central and southern India. Depending on patterns of precipitation, flowering can be induced during June-July (mrig bahar), September-October (hasta bahar) and January-February (ambe bahar). In areas having assured rainfall where precipitation is normally received in June and continues upto September, flowering in June is advantageous; where monsoon normally starts in August, flowering during August is beneficial. Areas having assured irrigation potential during April-May, flowering during January can be taken and where monsoon starts early and withdraws by September induction of flowering in October is possible. Considering comparable yields, prices and irrigation needs it is recommended that October cropping could be substituted for January flowering.

5.11 Plant Protection Measures

5.11.1 Insect Pests

Insect pests mostly observed are fruit borer, mealy bugs, aphids, white fly and fruit sucking moths. Spraying with dimethoate , deltamethrin or malathion etc. depending upon the type of pest infestation has been found to be effective in most cases.

5.11.2 Diseases

The main diseases reported are leafspot and fruit rot. Application of Mancozeb (2g./l.) during rainy season incase of the former and application of Kavach (2g./l) andCarbendazim/Thiophanate methyl/Baycor/Benomyl (1g./l.) during September/Octoberin case of the latter has been found to be effective in most cases.

5.11.3 Disorders

Fruit cracking is a seriousdisorder. This physiological disorder observed in young fruits is due to borondeficiency and that in fully grown fruits is mainly due to moisture imbalances.Tolerant varieties viz. Bedana Bose and Khog may be cultivated and in othercases spraying with calcium hydroxide soon after fruit set has been found to bebeneficial.

5.12Harvesting and Yield

Pomegranate being a non-climactericfruit should be picked when fully ripe. Pomegranate plants take 4-5 years tocome into bearing. Harvesting ofimmature or over mature fruits affects the quality of the fruits. The fruitsbecome ready for picking 120-130 days after fruit set. The calyx at the distalend of the fruit gets closed on maturity. At maturity, the fruits turnyellowish-red and get suppressed on sides.

6. POST HARVEST MANAGEMENT

6.1Grading

Fruits are graded on the basis oftheir weight, size and colour. The various grades are super, king, queen andprince-sized. Besides that, pomegranates are also graded into two grades- 12Aand 12 B. Fruits of 12-A grade are generally preferred in southern and northernregion.

6.2Storage

Fruits can be stored in cold storageupto 2 months or 10 weeks at a temperature of 5⁰ C. Longer storageshould be at 10⁰ C and 95% RH to avoid chilling injury and weightloss.

6.3Packing

The size of packages variesaccording to the grade of the fruits. Corrugated fibre board boxes are mostlyused. In a single box, 4-5 queen sized fruits, 12 prince sized and some of 12-Aand 12-B grades may be packed. The white coloured boxes having 5 plies aregenerally used for export purpose, whereas red-coloured ones having 3 plies areused for domestic markets. The red coloured boxes are cheaper than whitecoloured ones. The cut pieces of waste paper are generally used as cushioningmaterial.

Majority of the growers sell theirproduce either through trade agents at village level or commission agents atthe market.

7.TECHNOLOGY SOURCES

Major sources for technology are:

(i)IndianInstitute of Horticultural Research, Hessarghatta, Bangalore-560089, Karnataka.

(ii)Directorateof Horticulture, Shivajinagar, Pune, Maharashtra-560003.

(iii)Directorateof Horticulture, Lalbagh, Bangalore, Karnataka.

(iv)Progressivegrowers of Maharashtra.

8.ECONOMICS OF A ONE ACRE MODEL

8.1Highquality commercial cultivation of crop by using high quality planting materialand drip irrigation leads to multiple benefits viz.

·Synchronized growth, flowering and harvesting;

·Reductionin variation of off-type and non-fruit plants;

·Improvedfruit quality;

Costs & Returns

8.2Aone acre plantation of the crop is a viable proposition. Project cost of the model, along with thebasis for costing are exhibited in Annexures I & II. A summary of the project cost is given inthe table below.

Cost Components of a One Acre Model Pomegranate Plantation

(Amount in Rs.)

*Cost of newly purchased land will belimited to one-tenth of the total project cost

8.3Themajor components of the model are:

·LandDevelopment: (Rs.4.0 thousand): This is the labour cost of shaping anddressing the land site.

·Fencing(Rs.29.6 thousand): It is necessary to safeguard the orchard by abarbed wire fencing.

·IrrigationInfra-structure (Rs.45.0 thousand): For effective working with drip irrigationsystem, it is necessary to install a bore well with diesel/electric pumpset andmotor. This is post cost of tube-well.

·DripIrrigation (Rs.20.0 thousand): This isaverage cost of one acre drip system for apple inclusive of the cost offertigation equipment. The actual costwill vary depending on location, plant population and plot geometry.

·Implements(Rs.10.0 thousand): For investment onimproved manually operated essential implements a provision of another Rs.10thousand is included.

·Buildingand Storage (Rs.35.0 thousand): A oneacre orchard would require minimally a labour shed and a store-cumgrading/packing room & pump house.

·Costof Cultivation (Rs.31.40 thousand): Land preparation and planting operationswill involve 300 days of manual labour, the cost of which will come to Rs.8.8thousand. The cost of planting material(200 plants per acre) works out to Rs.4.0 thousand @ Rs.20.0 per plant.

8.4Labourcost has been put at an average of Rs.70 per man-day. The actual cost will vary from location to location dependingupon minimum wage levels or prevailing wage levels for skilled and unskilledlabour.

Inter-cropping

Since the orchard would be startgiving yield from 5^th year onwards, it is proposed to take upinter-cropping particularly off season vegetables which would cost Rs.10000/-per acre and would yield on average 6 tonnes/acre valued at Rs.30000.

8.5Recurring Production Cost: Recurring production costs areexhibited in Annexure III. The maincomponents are planting material, land preparation, inputs application (FYM,fertilizers, micro-nutrients liming material, plant protection chemicals etc.),power and labour on application of inputs, inter-cultural and other farm operations.

8.6Returns from the Project:The yield from the plantation is obtained from 5^th yearonwards. The yield goes up from 4.0tonnes per acre in the 5^th year to 7 tonnes per acre in the 8^thyear onwards. Valued at Rs.15,000 pertonne the return goes up from Rs.0.60 lakhsto Rs.1.05 lakhs (Vide Annexure-III).

Project Financing

8.7 Balance Sheet: The projected balance sheet of the model isgiven at Annexure IV.There would be three sources of financing the project as below:

Source Rs. Thousand

Farmer’s share (50%) 87.50

Capitalsubsidy (20%) 35.00

Termloan (30%) 52.50

Total 175.00

8.8Profit & Loss Account: The cash flow statement may be seen in Annexure V. Annexure VI projects the profit andloss account of the model. Gross profitgoes up from Rs.31.2 thousand in year 5 to Rs.68.8 thousand in year 8.

8.9Repayment of Term Loan: The term loan willbe repaid in eleven equated 6 monthly installments of Rs.4.77 thousand with amoratorium of 60 months. The rate ofinterest would have to be negotiated with the financing bank. It has been putat 12% in the model (vide Annexures VII & VII A).

8.10Annexure VIII gives depreciation calculations.

Project Viability:

8.11IRR/BCR: The viability of the project is assessed in Annexure IX. The IRR works out to 39.24 and theBCR to 2.5 over a period of 15 years.

8.12The Debt Service coverage ratio calculations are presented in AnnexureX. The average DSCR works outto 4.62.

8.13Payback Period:On the basis of costs and returns of the model, the pay back period isestimated at 4.18 years (vide Annexure XI).

8.14Break-even Point:The break even point will be reached in the third year. At this point fixed cost would work out to 52.3%of gross sales (vide Annexure XII).