Growing drought-tolerant plants can be an excellent choice due to the increasing climate change and unpredictable weather patterns. Pomegranates are profitable crops that flourish in a wide range of climatically challenging cultivation conditions. They require little water and can survive well in hot and dry environments.
How profitable is Pomegranate farming?
Pomegranate awareness has increased tremendously over the past few years due to its health benefits, increasing demand, and high profitability. Locally, in Kenya, the wholesale price for one fruit is about Kshs 80 to 100, while in retail, they go for about Kshs 150 to Kshs 300. In the export market, the price for one kg of pomegranates ranges from Kshs 1500 to 1700. Europe, Canada, the United States, Japan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, and Malaysia provide the largest markets for pomegranates. Considering that one healthy pomegranate can produce about 12-15 kgs in its 3rd year, you can imagine how much you can earn from an acre. Production increases each season and can increase by more than 5kgs per season depending on the management practices employed.
Health benefits
Pomegranates are rich in flavonoids and antioxidants and have a wide range of health benefits. They have a high potential to effectively prevent heart diseases, anaemia, diabetes, osteoarthritis, stomach disorders, colon, breast, lung, and prostate cancers. Besides, eating pomegranates helps regain strength after an illness, reduce inflammations, and treat sore throats.
Pomegranate and Value addition
Post-harvest losses are a great challenge to most farmers and can significantly impact their revenue. Value addition is an essential way of preventing harvesting losses and increasing the farmers’ profits. Pomegranates can be used in industrial processing to make various products such as juices, syrup, flavoring and coloring agents, pomegranate wines, molasses, pomegranate powder, and arils in brandy and vinegar. Besides, they are processed into jellies, candied arils, carbonated beverages, and juice concentrate.
Pomegranate Molasses
Pomegranate molasses is a thick, dark syrup with a tangy flavor. Its sweet taste is derived from pomegranate fruits. Typically, molasses is used to tenderize meat products and flavor salad dressings, curries, and chutneys.
Pomegranate Powder
The powder is prepared from dried and milled pomegranate arils. It is rich in ellagic acid and has many medical applications.
Pomegranate Wine
Pomegranate juice can be used to make high-quality wine that ages the same way as grape wine. Pasteurized juice is fermented with yeast, which continues until the desired alcohol level is achieved. The wine is then clarified through either centrifugation or bentonite treatment.