The document provides an overview of the breeding of pomegranates, detailing their botanical characteristics, origin, and the extensive cultivation across various regions. It discusses objectives for developing improved cultivars, such as soft seeds, disease resistance, and better management traits, as well as breeding methods and notable achievements in cultivar development. Notable cultivars and selections for commercial cultivation in various Indian states are also listed.

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).