Varieties of Pear

Varieties

      Pear varieties belong to 3 groups—European, Asian and hybrids. The varieties recommended for different states are listed below. 

Early	Mid-season	Late
Early China Laxton’s , Superb,Fertility (P),Seckel.	Bartlett,Starking Delicious,Max-Red Bartlett,Dr Jule's Guyot.	Conference (P)*, Comice,Hardy, Winter Nellis, Clapp’s Favourite, Flemish Beauty (P).

(Table 1. Pear varieties for high hills)

Himachal Pradesh

High hills: The pears are classified as early, mid-season and late-ripening. They are:

Mid, low hills and valley areas: Pears grown in these areas are: Patharnakh (Sand Pear), Keiffer (P) and China Pear.

Jammu and Kashmir 

Early	Mid-season	Late
China pear, Beurre-de-Amanlis	Citron-do-Carme, Clapp’s Favourite, Doyenne Bussoch Genta Drauard Fertility China Sand Pear, William Bartlett	Hardy, Viear of Winkfield

(Table 2. Pear varieties for temperate areas)

Uttar Pradesh

The varieties grown are:

High hills: Max-Red Bartlett, William Bartlett, Conference, Hardy, Winter Nelis, Clapp’s Favourite, Flemish Beauty and Comice.

Lower hills and plains: Patharnakh, Gola and LeConte.

Propagation and rootstock

       The rootstock commonly used for propagation are pear, Kainth and Shiara seedlings and clonally propagated Quince. In Punjab, root suckers of wild pear are also employed as rootstock. In some areas in plains of north India, own-rooted cuttings of Patharnakh are also used for propagation.

Seed propagation

For raising rootstock, seeds of pear, Kainth and Shiara are extracted from fully mature fruits. The seeds need stratification (chilling treatment) for proper germination. The stratification can be completed by sowing seeds in open nursery in November or placing them in alternate layers with the moist sand and/or vermiculite at optimum low temperature (5°–7°C) for the required duration during October–November. The seeds are kept in the stratifying medium till the uppermost layer of seeds pushes the sand upward and protrudes the radical. The germinating seeds are sown in the beds or directly in the nursery rows immediately at a distance of 10–15cm in rows 15cm apart

Own-rooted cuttings

Dormant cuttings from meritorious pear trees are prepared from juvenile shoots during December. These cuttings are treated with IBA 100ppm for 24hr and are placed in moist sand for callusing. The callused cuttings are then planted in the nursery rows. Kainth cuttings are also prepared and treated in the same manner to raise clonal rootstock. These are later budded/grafted.

Raising rootstock from root suckers

The root suckers of healthy pear trees are separated during October–December with good root system. These suckers are tongue grafted and planted in the nursery at 15–20cm distance 30cm apart, leaving 60cm space after 2 rows. The root suckers which do not have good root system are planted in nursery rows after heading back to 2–3 buds without grafting. New sprouts come during February–March which become budable during August–September.

Clonal rootstock

‘Quince A’ is most commonly used clonal rootstock producing trees 50–60% of the standard size. However, this rootstock has poor compatibility with most of the commercial cultivars. Incompatibility can be overcome by double grafting with Old Home or Hardy varieties. Mound layering is generally done to propagate this rootstock clonally.

Budding and grafting

Pear plants are commonly propagated by T-budding during April–September or tongue grafting done during December–January.