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Land preparation
Land is prepared by ploughing,
harrowing, leveling and removing weeds. Pomegranate is
propagated vegetatively by cuttings, tissue culture, air
layering or gootee. Air layering is usually done during
the rainy season and also in November-December. Planting
is usually done in spring (February-March) and
July-August. High density planting with spacing gives
2-2.5 times more yield than that obtained when the
normal planting distance of 5 X 5 m. is adopted. Farmers
have adopted a spacing of 2.5 X 4.5 m. Closer spacing
increases disease and pest incidence. Pits of 60 X 60 X
60 cm. size are dug about a month prior to planting and
kept open under the sun for a fortnight. Each pit is
filled with top soil mixed with farmyard manure (20 kg)
vermin-comopost (2 kg), neem cake (1 kg), pongamia cake
(1 kg), furadon (20g) and super phosphate (500g). After
filling the pit, watering is done to allow soil to
settle down. Cuttings/air layers are then planted and
staked. Irrigation is provided immediately after
planting by drip irrigation
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