Kerman
The main female pistachio cultivar in California orchards. It bears nuts only if male pollen reaches its flowers on the wind, so it always needs a male planted close by. UC puts its winter chill need at about 850 hours below 7.2°C. India has no ICAR release and no published Indian yield for it.
Quick facts
- Type
- Grafted plant (female, fruit-bearing)
- Season
- All seasons
- Starts bearing
- Slow to bear (long juvenility, UC); no Indian first-bearing age published
- Expected yield
- No Indian per-tree yield published; heavy and light crop years alternate
- Suitable soil
- Deep, well-drained soil; internationally tolerant of alkaline conditions (roughly pH 7.0–8.0); no India-specific range confirmed
- Disease resistance
- Internationally susceptible to Verticillium wilt like most cultivars; not documented for Indian conditions
- Release
- A long-established international cultivar of Iranian origin, not an ICAR or Indian release; India has no domestically bred pistachio cultivar
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Kerman is the main female pistachio cultivar in California orchards, and much of the University of California (UC) advice on the crop is written around it. In India it is not an ICAR release and not an established crop. The one Indian study we found followed 8-year-old Kerman trees in the dry temperate north-west Himalaya for four seasons (Kumar and others, Scientia Horticulturae, 2016). Every pistachio tree is either male or female. Kerman is female, so it bears nuts only if male pollen reaches its flowers on the wind. UC puts its winter chill need at about 850 hours below 45°F (7.2°C), and other sources give different figures. It bears on one-year-old wood and tends to give a heavy crop one year and a light one the next. We found no Indian figure for yield, spacing or disease, and no published list of Indian nurseries that supply it. The spacing and chill figures given above are international.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Kerman only as a trial planting on a dry, cold-winter site, and only if you can wait: it is slow to bear, alternates heavy and light years, and we found no Indian yield figure. It is the female cultivar the whole of UC's pistachio research is built around, so it is the one with the most advice behind it. It will not work alone. Plant a male close by, and ask the nursery in writing which male it is and when it flowers. Before you buy, count your winter chill hours below 7.2°C from a nearby weather station and compare them with the 850 hours UC uses.
Sowing & cultivation
- SpacingRoughly 5–7 m by international practice (a UC spacing table lists 20 x 18 ft as 121 trees an acre). Males go in the same block: UC plants one on every fifth tree in every fifth row (1:24) and says they should stand within 66 ft (20 m) of the females.
- FertilizerNo Indian schedule is published for the crop. The 2016 Himalayan study tested different NPK levels and foliar boron, but we could read only its abstract. See the crop guide and ask your horticulture department.
Pest & disease considerations
Major diseases
Major pests
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- The female cultivar with the most published advice behind it, from UC's decades of work on California orchards.
- Drought-tolerant and tolerant of saline and alkaline soil once established, which suits mineral-heavy cold-desert ground.
- An Indian field study exists: 8-year-old trees were followed for four seasons in the dry temperate north-west Himalaya.
Things to consider
- Cannot bear fruit alone. A male must be planted close by and must flower at the same time.
- Alternates heavy and light crop years, so a single season tells you little.
- No Indian yield, spacing or disease figures are published, and we found no list of Indian nurseries that supply it.
- The 850-hour chill figure is a California guide. Your site may give fewer hours.
Suitable regions
Not an established crop in India. The one Indian Kerman study we found used 8-year-old trees at Dr YS Parmar University's research farm at Sharbo, Reckong Peo, in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh (Kumar and others, 2016). The paper names Kinnaur's Pooh block, Spiti and the cold desert of Leh and Kargil as suitable, but we found no documented planting in Ladakh, so ask the Ladakh horticulture department what is actually growing there.
- Himachal Pradesh
- Ladakh
Four things that decide a Kerman nut crop each spring
First, winter cold. UC work puts Kerman at about 850 hours below 45°F (7.2°C) to finish its winter rest. With less, leafing is delayed and bloom is erratic, and UC farmers spray dormant oil in such years to help the buds break. Other sources give different figures, so treat 850 as a guide, not a rule.
Second, pollen meets flower. Pollen travels on the wind, not with bees. UC says male trees should stand within 66 ft (20 m) of the females, and that only about 10% of pollen grains are still alive 24 hours after release. California orchards plant a male on every fifth tree in every fifth row, a ratio of 1:24. In warm winters the males tend to bloom later than the females, which is why UC advises more than one male variety.
Third, few flowers set. A UC presentation gives 100–200 flowers on a cluster, under 4% set, an average of 14 fruit, and 5–30% blank nuts. A good set is therefore never certain, even in a healthy orchard.
Fourth, last year's crop. Kerman bears on one-year-old wood and alternates heavy and light years (UC). The Himalayan study counted 2011 and 2013 as on years and 2012 and 2014 as off years.
For an Indian grower this is a checklist, not a promise. Measure your own chill hours, note the dates male and female trees flower, and keep a record of nut set for at least three seasons before you plant more.
Where the planting material comes from
This variety is a grafted plant: the variety on top, joined onto a rootstock below. Seed out of its fruit will not come up as this variety, so it cannot be kept as seed. Buy grafted plants from a registered nursery or a government farm, so the plant is true to the variety and free of disease.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Pistachio (Pista) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Starts bearing | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kermanthis page | Trial plantings of the nut-bearing female tree | Slow to bear (long juvenility, UC); no Indian first-bearing age published | No Indian per-tree yield published; heavy and light crop years alternate | Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh |
| Peters | Pollen source for Kerman, with a second male as backup | Does not bear nuts. UC says it can take five years to begin flowering | Not applicable — a male pollinator variety, not a nut-bearing one | Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Pistachio (Pista) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Pistachio (Pista) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Pistachio (Pista) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Pistachio (Pista) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Pistachio (Pista) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Pistachio (Pista) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I plant only Kerman trees in my orchard?
No. Kerman is a female cultivar and pistachio is dioecious, so a block of only Kerman trees sets little or no fruit. Pollen travels on the wind, and UC says males should stand within 66 ft (20 m) of the females. California orchards plant a male on every fifth tree in every fifth row, a ratio of 1:24. No Indian ratio is established, so ask your nursery and your horticulture department. A few extra non-bearing males cost little, while too few cost the crop.
How many chill hours does Kerman need, and does my area give them?
UC research and field observation put Kerman at about 850 hours below 45°F (7.2°C) for its rest to finish. Other sources give different figures. We found no Indian chill count for Kerman. To check your site, add up the hours below 7.2°C from the nearest weather station or from a logger on your land, over a whole winter, and ask your horticulture department how it compares. Fewer hours mean delayed leafing and ragged bloom.
Has Kerman been tested in India?
We found one published Indian study: Kumar and others, Scientia Horticulturae 210 (2016). It followed 8-year-old Kerman trees in the dry temperate north-west Himalaya for four seasons, 2011 to 2014. It tested different NPK levels and foliar boron on growth, fruit set, nut yield and quality, and recorded yield per tree and bud drop at each harvest. 2011 and 2013 were on years and 2012 and 2014 were off years. We could read only the abstract, so we cannot give you its per-tree yield.
Why does Kerman give a heavy crop one year and a light crop the next?
UC lists Kerman as an alternate-bearing cultivar that bears on one-year-old wood. In the Himalayan study the same trees had on years in 2011 and 2013 and off years in 2012 and 2014. The practical lesson is that one good or bad harvest does not tell you much about an orchard. Judge a planting by at least two years together, and do not plan loan repayments around the heavy year alone.
Where do I buy a Kerman sapling in India?
We found no published list of Indian nurseries that supply grafted Kerman, and no ICAR certification for it. Ask the horticulture department of your state or UT, and ICAR-CITH, Srinagar, where they source material. Ask for the cultivar and the sex of every plant in writing, and ask which male variety is sold with it. Buy only grafted plants. Pistachio is dioecious, so an unsexed seedling can turn out male or female.
Sourced from: Kumar and others, Nutrient dynamics in pistachios (Pistacia vera L.), Scientia Horticulturae 210, 2016 — abstract, Kallsen, Chilling, Cold Injury, and Dormant Oil Research in Pistachio (Kerman and Peters) — UC Cooperative Extension, Pistachio bloom and pollination processes — UC Nut, Olive and Prune Programmatic News, Kallsen, Pistachio orchard design: pollinizers in a 1:24 ratio — UC Cooperative Extension presentation, Kern Pistachio Notes, June 2023 — UC Westside and the new pollenizer team for Kerman, Pistachio Climate & Cultivars — UC Davis Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center. editorial policy.