Pear
(Scientific Name: Pyrus communis L, Family: Rosaceae, 3n = 51)
Introduction Origin and Distribution:
Genus pyrus originated in the mountainous region of the eastern china.
Indigenous pear or mayal (pyrus pashia) is found growing in Nepal.
Pear is cultivated in the mid hill region of Nepal.
Pharping is famous for pear.
Major pear growing countries are China, Japan, Korea, Northern India,
Afganistan etc. Nin Nepal Important districts for Pear cultivation are Taplejung,
Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha , Khotang, Lalitpur, Kathmandu, dhading etc.
Area and Production:
Total area under Pear cultivation in the year 2075/76 was 4,275 ha, Productive area;
3,338 ha, Production; 32,025 Mt and productivity; 9.60 Mt/Ha.s
Importance:
Pear is linked to a lower risk of diabetes.
It may help you lose weight.
Botany:
Family: Rosaceae
Sub-family: Pomoideae
Chromosome no (x): 17
Inflorescence is indeterminate umbel like raceme
Fruit is pome with persistent or deciduous calyx.
Species & Cultivars:
1. European pear/ Common (Pyrus communis):
Pear flavoured, very soft, and melting texture with persistent calyx.
Susceptible to fire blight disease.
Required high chilling period (>1000 hrs).
Varieties: Barlett, Williams, Buerre, Hardy (late variety), Anjou, Comice,
Conference etc.
2. Oriental/Japanese/Asiatic pear (Pyrus pyrifloia, serotia, pashia):
Apple like flavoured, crispy and juicy with deciduous calyx
Good keeping quality
Needs low chilling (<1000 hrs)
More common in Nepal
Varieties: pharping local (late variety), hosui, kosui, chojure, Havana etc
Cultivation Techniques:
Climate:
Needs wide range of climatic conditions as low as 26 in dormancy and high as 45
degree Celsius.
Pear does little better in warmer condition than apple.
Chilling period of 900-1000 hrs below 7 is require to induce flowering.
European pear requires high chilling than Asian.
Spring frost is extremely danger to pear.
100cm rainfall is desirable for Pear cultivation.
Soil:
Survive better on wet soil condition than apple.
Well drained, fertile, deep soil with good water holding capacity is required. With pH
of 5.5-6.5.
Irrigation:
Needs at least once a week for 3 months after planting and then 2-3 times a
week in spring.
Necessary especially during young stage and fruit development.
Basins should be made free of weeds around the tree and mulch with straw or
dried leaves.
Fruit thinning:
To have larger and quality fruit thinning is done. Thinning is practiced in cultivars having
heavy fruit set like Barlett, Beurre Hardy, Anjou, One fruit per 30-40 leaves should be
retained.
Planting:
Season: late winter season
Requires less spacing than apple
Optimum planting distance 4-6 m
Quince rootstock at 2-3 m
Pit size 60-75 cm3
Flowering Habit:
inflorescence contains7-8 flowers which is indeterminate.
flower bud is formed on the terminal of shoots or spurs 2 years old branches.
all species are self-sterile, cross fertile.
keeping bee hive in the orchard help in cross pollination.
Propagation:
Bench grafting is done in winter.
Cleft and bark grafting for top working.
Hard wood cutting also possible in pear.
Mayal (pyrus pashia) are extremely used.
Quince stocks are generally prepared by layering.
Manuring & Fertilization:
Full dose of FYM, phosphorus and half nitrogen applied in winter and remaining
nitrogen in after harvesting of fruits.
Use 25g N, 15g P and 25g K in the first year and increase dose in subsequent
year.
Training & Pruning:
Trained in open Centre or vase system. It is done by cutting the young plant to a height of
60 cm from the ground and allowing 3-4 branches to develop. The height from the base to
the first scaffold branch should not be less than 40 cm.
Harvesting:
Harvesting time is determined by slight change in fruit color green to yellow and
easy separation of fruits.
Depending on cultivars fruit ready for harvest from 70 days after full bloom
(china pear) to 135 days (barlett).
While harvesting petiole should remain attached with fruit.
Yield:
Oriental pear 200 kg/tree/year
European pear 50-70kg/tree/year
Hybrid pear 100 kg/tree/year
Storage and Marketing:
Grading of fruits is generally done by the size of the fruits. They must be picked at
mature , green and hard stage. Pears can be easily kept for 2-3 months in cellar stores
and 3-6 months in cold storage. Fruits properly packed in plastic cartons. And
transported by bus, trucks , tractors or even by bicycles to local or distant markets for
sale.
Diseases:
1. fire blight (Erwinia amylovora)
Spreads from tree to tree primarily during the bloom period
Foliar spray of streptomycin 50 ppm at 5-12 times throughout the spring and
early summer
2. Pear Scab (Venturia pirina)
SYMPTOMS
Sooty spots on young fruit, stems, calyx lobes, or flower petals.
Olive-black spots on leaves.
Young infected fruit frequently drop or are misshapen.
Cracked fruit
Pinhead-sized blister-like infections and/or a corky layer on twigs
GENERAL MANAGEMENT
Shred fallen leaves with a flail mower or apply nitrogen (urea) to leaves in fall to
enhance decomposition of fallen leaves and make them more palatable to earthworms.
Prune out infected twigs.
Prevent wetting foliage in irrigation.
3. pear decline:
SYMPTOMS
4. Leaves turn red early
5. Tree wilt, scorch, and die in a few weeks
6. Trees lose vigor over several seasons
7. Sparse foliage with little or no terminal growth
8. Reduced leaf size
9. Brown line on the cambium at the graft union
GENERAL MANAGEMENT
Use resistant or tolerant rootstocks.
Use the best orchard management practices, including the best possible insect and
disease control, irrigation, drainage, fertilization, and pruning.
Control pear psylla.
When grafting Asian pear trees over to European (P. com-munis) cultivars, graft below
the union of the Asian pear with its rootstock to avoid creating a highly decline-
susceptible tree
Remove diseased trees
Insect/pest:
i. Pear psylla: Cacopsylla pyricola
Most important pest of pear
It secretes honeydew which makes leaves and fruit sticky
Controlled by spraying malathion when eggs hatch in to nymphs
ii. Defoliating beetle
Important pest of Asian pears
Feed on the young leaves
Adult hide underground during day and come out at night
Caught by using light traps.
iii. Campylomma Bug
SYMPTOMS
Dimpling and fruit deformity on developing fruit
Small corky areas alone or surrounded by depression
Severe injury can cause cat-facing
Golden Delicious apples appear to be more sensitive to injury than darker skinned
cultivars
Control: formetanate hydrochloride (Carzol) - toxic to bees and predatory mites; during
bloom, apply at night; do not use after petal fall.
iv. Pear Fruit Sawfly
Nature of damage: Pear fruit sawfly (Hoplocampa brevis) is an insect whose larvae feed
exclusively inside pear fruitlets in early spring. It should not be confused with a pest of a
similar name, the pear sawfly (Caliroa cerasi), which feeds on foliage in the summer.
Control: Pear growers have reported that a thorough dormant oil plus insecticide
(carbaryl, pyrethroids, diazinon) application targeting other pests reduced their losses
from the pear fruit sawfly by about 90% over the prior year.
