Identifying Pomegranate Diseases

Owing to the well-publicized health benefits associated with its high content of beneficial antioxidants, consumption of pomegranate juice has increased considerably. A juicing facility for pomegranate in southeastern Georgia could provide an excellent return on investment, potentially providing new opportunities for income and diversification in this economically impoverished area. However, there are numerous unknowns regarding the horticultural performance of pomegranate, a fruit crop native to Persia, in Georgia's challenging production environment. To provide a basis for developing disease management tactics in support of the fledgling pomegranate industry in Georgia, UGA plant pathologists conducted a plant disease survey to characterize the fruit disease complex on pomegranate and to identify cultivars or selections with resistance to the most common pathogen species in the southeastern production environment. The UGA study revealed that the disease complex on pomegranate in Georgia is diverse and different from that in other production areas such as California or the Mediterranean, where Alternaria, Aspergillus, and Botrytis diseases dominate. Some symptom types were limited to certain cultivars, but more than 90 percent of cultivars and selections grown at the test site appeared susceptible to Cercospora fruit spot, indicating that supplemental disease management tactics will need to be developed for this disease. The development of a viable pomegranate industry in Georgia will require active and vigilant disease management.