Response of Rawa Seedless Pomegranate Fruits to Different Types of Packaging and Spraying with Calcium

A study was conducted in the district of Rawah, which is located 224 km away from the city of Ramadi, on the pomegranate trees of the seedless Rawa cv.. The study investigated the effect of fruit bagging and calcium spray on some fruit traits. Two factors were studied during the research: the first factor involved using different types of bags to cover the fruits, including (uncovered control, double-layer muslin cloths, saran, and white paper bags). The second factor included calcium spraying at concentrations of 0, 1, and 2 g per liter. The results indicated that fruit bagging treatments had a significant effect on all studied characteristics except for the percentage of calcium in the fruit peels. Saran bagging contributed to achieving the best results for characteristics (fruit weight and yield) at 407.04 g and 23.27 kg tree-1, respectively. Furthermore, the above treatment resulted in the lowest percentage of cracked fruits at 13.43%. Conversely, the treatment of bagging with white paper bags achieved the highest value for the fruit firmness characteristic at 2.43 kg cm2. As for the calcium spray, it showed a significant effect on all studied characteristics. The high concentration (2 g liter-1) achieved the best values for fruit weight, fruit firmness and yield, at 415.72 gm, 2.49 kg cm2 and 24.03 kg tree-1) respectively. Additionally, the above treatment resulted in the lowest percentage of cracked fruits at 15.24%, While, the treatment (1 g liter-1) achieved the best value for percentage of calcium in the fruit peels at 1.32%. The interaction between the two study factors reached a significant level of influence on all studied characteristics. The interaction treatment (B2C2) excelled in achieving the best values for most of the studied characteristics, while the control treatment (B0C0) showed the lowest values for the studied characteristics.