USA: Early California rain surge is challenging for pomegranates
Fresh Pomegranate
United States
Published Jan 13, 2022
Tridge summary
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.
Original content
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 through the end of last year. Tjerandsen said he expects the state’s 2021 pomegranate crop for the fresh market to be 6 million boxes, or 150 million pounds. With addition of processed fruit, he said the state’s total crop estimate could be 12 million boxes, or 300 million pounds. Ray England, vice president of marketing for DJ Forry Co., a family-owned business in ...
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