Pomegranate's ruby-red allure is hard to beat

As unfussy as they come, pomegranates are a relatively easy crop to cultivate. With market conditions picking up, the fruit offers first-time, part-time and long-time farmers an attractive option should they find themselves in the right climate.Lindi Botha reports on the success of a farm in Gauteng.

- Lindi Botha

Hot summers, cold winters, and well-drained soil: these are the basic requirements to start farming pomegranates. “It’s not a fussy, high maintenance crop, although it does still need a bit of care. But someone who has never farmed before, for example, will likely succeed with pomegranates,” says Louis Swanepoel.

Swanepoel and his partner, Kobus van Zyl, who own Ubali Pomegranate Farm in Cullinan, Gauteng, are focused on producing pomegranate trees for farmers. The 3 000 trees in their mother block, used to produce cuttings, provide them with ample fruit and sound knowledge of what it takes to produce this crop.

When they moved onto the smallholding 13 years ago, they planted a test block of 100 trees to see if pomegranates were suited to the area. “It is a Mediterranean crop, and while Gauteng’s climate can’t be classified as such, the trees did really well, so we started expanding,” explains Swanepoel.

Today, the nursery has capacity for 45 000 trees, which are supplied to farmers from Gauteng to the Western Cape. A key consideration for planting pomegranates is cold units. “The temperature needs to drop to at least -5°C in winter to ensure the trees go dormant. If it doesn’t, the trees are unlikely to bear fruit,” he adds.

Swanepoel also cautions against tropical and subtropical climates, noting that areas suitable for apricot and peach production will likely be suitable for pomegranates, too.

GET THE BASICS RIGHT

Pomegranates prefer sandy soil and can cope in poor soils but not clay. Swanepoel relates advice he received to determine if the soil is suited to pomegranates: “Dig a 1m³ hole and fill it with water. If there is still water in that hole after 48 hours, then the land is not suited to pomegranates.”