Impact of pre-harvest fruit bagging on pomegranate cv Mridula quality and cracking in southwestern Haryana

This two-year study, conducted in Hisar, Haryana, evaluated how different types of pre-harvest bagging affect the quality of Mridula pomegranates. The goal was to identify the best bagging practices for semi-arid, irrigated regions in northern India. The experiment tested five treatments: polyethylene bags, selfing bags (butter paper), non-woven white bags, non-woven red bags and an unbagged control. The results showed that bagging is a highly effective practice. All bagging treatments completely prevented fruit cracking, which occurred in 18.2 per cent of the unbagged control fruits. Bagged fruits, particularly those in selfing, polyethylene and non-woven white bags, were significantly heavier than the control fruits. While non-woven bags enhanced aril percentage and juice content, selfing bags were the most effective at reducing disease incidence, specifically bacterial blight and black spot. All bagging treatments significantly reduced disease severity, with selfing bags recording the lowest infection rates. These findings confirm that pre-harvest bagging is an eco-friendly way to improve yield, fruit quality and disease resistance in pomegranates grown in northern India.