USA: Early California rain surge is challenging for pomegranates

The pomegranate, a deciduous fruit that contains hundreds of deep-red seeds known as arils, is one of the oldest recorded fruits and is considered by many cultures a symbol of prosperity and luck. But for some pomegranate farmers, these traits went out the door this harvest season once Mother Nature got involved. “At the outset, it was shaping up to be a grand season. What farmers were able to harvest before that damaging rain in mid-to-late October was top-quality fruit,” said Tom Tjerandsen, manager of the Pomegranate Council. But when the storms hit, many pomegranates couldn’t handle the prosperity of all that sudden water. “With the rain that showed up,” Tjerandsen said, “the bushes greedily suck up the water and send it out into the branches, and the fruit welcomes it but can’t expand fast enough, so it splits.” California farmers in top pomegranate-growing counties of Fresno, Tulare, Kern and Kings began harvest of early-variety fruit in late September and picked the crop ...