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Pummelo fruit hanging on tree Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

Pummelo (shaddock) cultivation

The pummelo, also called shaddock or pomelo, is Citrus maxima — the largest of all Citrus species and a parent of grapefruit and sweet orange. It is grown commercially in the Northeast hill states (Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura) and in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and parts of Maharashtra. In the Northeast it is a backyard and jhum-rotation crop with strong local market demand, while in the south it appears as a scattered homestead and dryland tree. India is one of the centres of Citrus maxima diversity, and ICAR-NBPGR and ICAR-NEH conserve more than 60 named local pummelo lines.

Key characteristics

  • Scientific name: Citrus maxima (= C. grandis).
  • Tree: large, spreading, with the broadest leaves and largest flowers of any cultivated Citrus; commercial bearing from year 5-7 on seedling.
  • Fruit: very large (1-3 kg), round to pyriform; thick spongy yellow to pale-green rind; segments large with firm pink or pale-yellow pulp vesicles, sweet to subacid with 8-12 deg Brix and 0.4-1.0% acidity; many seeds in standard local types and few in selected lines.
  • Maturity: October-January in the Northeast; November-February in the south.
  • Yield: 30-50 fruits (30-100 kg) per mature tree.

Cultivation

Pummelo is propagated mostly by seed in the traditional Northeast and Kerala systems because the species is largely nucellar; air layering and budding on Rangpur lime (Rangpur Lime Rootstock) and rough lemon (Rough Lemon Jamberi Rootstock) are used in organised plantings. Spacing is wide — 8 m x 8 m or 10 m x 10 m (100-150 trees/ha) — because of the large canopy. The crop is well adapted to high-rainfall (1500-3500 mm) tropical and subtropical climates and tolerates short-term waterlogging better than mandarin or sweet orange. Fertiliser for a mature tree is 600 g N + 300 g P + 600 g K per year. Pruning is minimal; once-in-3-years thinning of crowded interior branches is recommended.

Important named selections and types include:

  • Khasi pummelo (Meghalaya, Assam): large yellow-rind, pink-pulp local types.
  • Manipur pummelo (Imphal valley): large fruit, low acidity, popular in folklore and ceremony.
  • Burmese pomelo / Wandari: Assam and Tripura red-pulp types.
  • Nagpur pomelo: a seedless pink-pulp ICAR-CCRI selection from the Vidarbha collection.
  • TKM-2 / Rangpur red: improved south-Indian red-pulp selection from Tamil Nadu.

Pest and disease profile

Pummelo is field-tolerant to citrus tristeza virus (Citrus Tristeza Virus India) on its own roots and to citrus greening, which is why it has persisted in the Northeast while mandarin orchards declined. Citrus canker (Citrus Canker Xanthomonas), citrus mealybug, fruit fly and citrus trunk borer are the main biotic constraints. Phytophthora gummosis on heavy waterlogged soils is occasional. Pre-harvest fruit drop and rind oedema (puffiness) on over-irrigated trees are the main abiotic disorders.

Adoption and use

Pummelo is consumed primarily as fresh fruit; the thick rind allows long shelf life (4-6 weeks at room temperature) and easy long-distance transport without refrigeration. The Manipur and Khasi types are exported in small volumes to Bangladesh and to the metro fresh-fruit markets of north and west India during the festival season. The rind is candied into local sweets in the Northeast and Kerala, and pummelo is increasingly marketed as a low-glycaemic-index health fruit. The species is also a parent of choice in citrus breeding programmes at ICAR-CCRI, ICAR-IIHR and IARI for grapefruit-style hybrids and seedless mandarin lines.

See also: Citrus Khasi Mandarin Northeast, Citrus Tristeza Virus India, Citrus Canker Xanthomonas.

Sources

  1. Pummelo (Citrus maxima) cultivation. ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam.
  2. Pummelo varieties. ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur.
  3. Pomelo cultivation. ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research.