- Pomegranates are a tart, red-fleshed fruit that grows on short, shrubby trees, originally native to southwest Asia. The trees can be grown in temperate climates but have the best success in bearing fruit in warmer regions, both moist and dry. Like other fruit trees, they are a long-term crop, with most trees producing fruit at about three years and the best fruit coming from the most mature trees.
- The farming of pomegranates has a long and rich history, with cultivation spanning many continents and centuries. Pomegranates have been farmed in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions for thousands of years and spread to Asia, Europe and Latin America. The history of pomegranate farming in these countries is often evidenced through cultural references to the fruit, including biblical appearances, mentions in Greek mythology (most notably the Persephone myth) and the name of the Spanish city of Granada ("granada" is the Spanish word for pomegranate).
- Today, pomegranates are still grown throughout the world, with the biggest producers including Iran, India, and Turkey, Afghanistan and the United States (California).
- Pomegranate is farmed for a variety of uses. It is shipped and sold in whole-fruit form, but the most popular use of the fruit is in processing for fruit juices and as a flavoring ingredient for items, such as candy, juice cocktail drinks and grenadine syrup.
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Pomegranates naturally withstand drought well, but they thrive when watered regularly, making irrigation a common part of farming. Mature trees produce more than 15 tons of fruit per acre. Only the best of the fruit is sold as fresh, whole fruit (usually coming from the most mature trees), while the rest is designated for juicing. The selection process must be done by hand.
Juicing may be done by farmers or juice-processing plants. Dry fruit solids left over from the juicing process are sometimes sold as cattle feed.
