Pear production technology

Pear

   Pear (Pyrus communis) is next only to apple in importance, acreage, production and varietal diversity among temperate fruits in India. It is grown under temperate and subtropical conditions because of its wider climatic and soil adaptability. It is primarily grown in hills at 1,700–2,400m above mean sea-level in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. Low-chilling pears have adapted very well in the subtropical regions.

Climate and soil

        Pear can be grown in a wide range of climatic conditions, as it can tolerate as low as –26°C temperature when dormant and as high as 45°C during growing period. A large number of pear cultivars require about 1,200hr below 7°C during winter to complete their chilling requirement to flower and fruit satisfactorily. However, Bartlett needs about 1,500hr compared with other temperate pears. Pear variety Patharnakh needs only 150hr of chilling and can also withstand high temperature and hot winds during summer. The medium chilling requiring pear LeConte, Keiffer, Pineapple, Hood and Gola perform well in areas experiencing mild winter. Spring frosts are detrimental to pear production and temperature at –3.3°C or below kills the open blossom. Therefore, lowlands should be avoided for its planting. The hail-prone areas are also unsuitable as hailstorms affect both plants and fruits.

          Pear grows best in deep, well-drained, fertile, medium-textured and relatively more clay soil. It is more tolerant to wet soils but less tolerant to drought than apple. Pears even do well on poorly aerated heavy soil with high watertable which is heavy in texture for most of deciduous fruits. A soil depth of about 180cm is ideal for proper root growth and fruit production. Plants growing on deeper soils give about twice the yield than those in shallow soils. A neutral pH range of 6.0–7.5 is desirable because Fe deficiency appears on highly alkaline soils. The highly fertile soils rich in N are not very suitable for pear growing as the incidence of pear psylla and fire blight is more in these soils.