Breeding of pomegranate

Breeding of pomegranate, origin, distribution of pomegranate, breeding objectives, varieties, germplasm

1. BREEDING OF POMEGRANATE Lecture #8

2. Botanical name: Punica granatum L. Family: Punicaceae Chromosome number : 2n = 2x = 18 Origin: Iran

3. Centre of diversity Pomegranate is native of Iran and cultivated extensively in the Mediterranean countries like Spain, Morocco, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan and Baluchistan. It is also grown to some extent in Burma, China, Japan, USA, USSR and India.

4. Germplasm resources Being cross pollinated crop, a lot of variability exists in seedling populations, which can be utilized in further improvement programme. At present 150 genotypes of pomegranate have been maintained at Central Institute of Arid Horticulture, Bikaner. Out of these genotypes, 55 are deciduous and rest 95 are of evergreen in nature . Field gene banks of pomegranate are maintained at Abohar, Rahuri, Bikaner, Bangalore , Allahabad, Jodhpur and Ludhiana.

5. Objectives To develop suitable types which produce small soft seeds with attractive red (pink ) aril. To develop easily manageable upright growth habit of the tree. To develop thornlessness in the twigs, a desirable character as it helps in cultural management of the tree. To develop varieties resistant to fruit borer ( Virachola isocrates ) and fruit rot ( Phomopsis sp.) To develop varieties free from fruit cracking, aril blackening. Identification and development of suitable varieties for cold arid region. Varieties with longer steerage life.

6. Breeding methods and achievements Some important cultivars including soft seeded , dark red grained types, viz. Wonderful from the USA. A.Males, Be Hastah, A Alah, A Agha , Mohammed Ali, A Post Sephid Sirin from Iran. Ranninj G-1-8-23, Rannyij G-1-3-34, Chereny , Gulsha Red, JG-1-8-7 from USSR and few cultivars from Tunisia have been introduced . At Hisar, cultivar Shirin Anar and Russian Seedling were found resistant to bacterial leaf spot. A pomegranate line of Iranian origin has been identified at Rahuri which has dark pink arils , soft seeds and high TSS.

7. Selection: On the basis of yield and physico -chemical characters of fruits, number of cultivars have been recommended for commercial cultivation in different states of India,viz . Ganesh , G-137,P-23,P-26 and Muscat in Maharashtra , Bassein Seedless, Jyothi and Madhugiri in Karnataka, Dholka in Gujarat, Jalore Seedless, Jodhpur Red , and Jodhpuri White in Rajasthan and Kabul Red, Vellodu , Yercaud 1, and Co-1 in TamilNadu .

8. Clonal Selection G-137 is a superior clonal selection over Ganesh, other clones are also superior i.e.G-107,G-132,G-133. Hybridization In order to incorporate blood red color of Russian types into Ganesh, several crosses were made at Rahuri in 1976 . seven had deep red aril color but the seeds were hard and inferior in taste than Ganesh. A promising line from the F2 population (No.61 ) combining desirable quality attributes has been released by the name Mridula (Ganesh x Gulsha Rose Pink ).