Everything you need to learn about cultivating pear organically. Learn about:- 1. Introduction to Pear 2. Climate and Soil Required for Pear Cultivation 3. Rootstocks and Propagation 4. Planting and Spacing 5. Training, Pruning and Canopy Management 6. Rejuvenation of Old and Unproductive 7. Harvest Time and Yielding 8. Varieties.
Contents:
- Introduction to Pear
- Climate and Soil Required for Pear Cultivation
- Rootstocks and Propagation of Pear
- Planting and Spacing of Pear
- Training, Pruning and Canopy Management of Pear
- Rejuvenation of Old and Unproductive of Pear
- Harvest Time and Yielding of Pear
- Varieties of Pear
1. Introduction to Pear:
Pear (Pyrus communis) occupies the second position in India in terms of both area and production among the temperate fruits. Owing to its wider climatic and soil adaptability it is also being grown under subtropical conditions. Pear varieties having high chilling requirements are grown in hills at 1700-2400 m above mean sea level in parts of Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
Low-chilling pears are being cultivated in lower hills of HP, Uttarakhand and plains of Punjab and UP. Pears are cultivated in an area of 42 000 ha with total production of about 2,95,000 tons (2012-13). Exact area break up for different states is not available. In Punjab it is cultivated in an area of 2,676 ha and production is about 58,184 tons (2007-2008).
2. Climate and Soil Required for Pear Cultivation:
Pear is one of the few fruit crops that can be grown in a wide variety of climatic conditions. Scattered plantations of pear are found growing right from the cold dry temperate hilly region to warm humid subtropical plains of the country. It can tolerate as low as -26°C temperature when dormant and as high as 45°C during growing period.
It thrives best in areas, which are located on north-eastern aspect at lower elevations and on south-western aspect at higher elevations. Spring frost causes extensive damage to the blossoms, which are killed below -3.3°C. The hail prone areas are also unsuitable for commercial production of pear. The medium chilling requiring pears grow well in areas experiencing mild winter.
Most pear varieties require 900 to 1200 hrs of chilling below 7°C to break the rest period. Bartlett variety has highest chilling requirements of 1300 hrs to break the rest period. However semi-soft pear cultivars like Keiffer, Le Conte, Bagugosha, Punjab Beauty and Patharnakh have only 200-300 hrs of chilling requirement. Pears are very susceptible to spring frosts.
Deep, well drained, fertile, medium textured and relatively clayey soils are suitable for pear cultivation. Pears do well on poorly aerated wet soils but are less tolerant to drought. A soil depth of about 180 cm is ideal for good pear production. Deeper soils give at times double the yields than shallow soils. The pH range of 6.0 to 7.5 is most suitable for pear cultivation. Annual rainfall of 1000 to 1250 mm is considered adequate for pear cultivation.
3. Rootstocks and Propagation of Pear:
Pear is normally grown on seedling rootstocks, locally known as Kainth (Pyrus pashia), Shiara (Pyrus serotina), pear root suckers and clonal rootstock Quince – A. Clonal rootstock Quince -A and dwarfing Quince-13-529 are also available. Among clonal rootstocks Quince-A has compatibility problem whereas planting material of dwarfing Quince is not easily available.
As far as seedling rootstocks are concerned, Kainth (Pyrus pashia) has been found to be the best. Seeds of Kainth (Pyrus pashia) are collected locally and sown in the field directly without stratification during the months of December-January.
For better germination, seed can be stratified in the moist sand for 35-45 days at 2-5°C. One year old seedlings are used for grafting and tongue grafting which are done during February-March. T-budding during June-July can also be done.
4. Planting and Spacing of Pear:
A planting plan is prepared by adopting a particular layout system before actual planting. The layout system depends on the plant densities to be adopted and topography of land. Generally, square or rectangular system is followed. In hilly areas, contour system is followed on a rolling land. The planting distance depends upon soil fertility, cultivar, rootstock, training system and climate of the region. Digging, filling of pits and planting should be done as given under apple section.
Normally pits of 1m x 1m x 1m size are opened and top soil of the pit is left on one side. Before planting top soil of the pit is mixed with 25 -30 kg F.Y.M/ compost, 2 kg vermicompost, 1kg neem cake and 1 kg wood ash along with 50 g each of Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas fluorescens. In plains spacing is usually kept at 6 to 8 m depending upon vigour of variety.
In hills pear varieties are planted at a spacing of 5m x 5m on seedling rootstock and 4m x 4m on clonal rootstock. Best planting time is December- January. However, under organic management, a wider spacing of 5m x 6m for seedling rootstocks and 4m x 5m on clonal rootstocks is suggested for hills. For plains spacing of 6 m x 9 m is more appropriate. Wider aprecing is useful for planting cover crops, creating more diversity which is helpful in containing insect pests.
5. Training, Pruning and Canopy Management of Pear:
For developing a strong scaffold system, pear trees are trained as modified central leader system. Unwanted secondary and tertiary branches are generally removed. The leader is cut back. Pear trees bear on spurs (on 2 years old wood) and a spur continues to bear for more than six years. Limbs with spurs over 6- 8 years old need to be removed in a phased manner. Pear trees do not need pruning every year.
However, in old bearing trees, pruning of dead wood and old non-bearing spurs need to be removed. In hilly areas, dormant season when danger of heavy snowfall is over is the best time of pruning. Early pruning may result in severe cold injury. In plains pruning the trees in January is the best.
Pear is mostly cultivated as rainfed crop. However, where irrigation facilities exist in heavier soils, 50% available soil moisture is maintained in upper 1 m soil surface. In lighter soils more frequent irrigations are required. Excessive as well as scanty moisture regime affects colour, quality and keeping quality of pear fruits. After harvesting in July-August, the trees should be irrigated at 20 days intervals or so.
Most of the pear cultivars grown in hills are partially self-fruitful, therefore, compatible pollinizers must be inter-planted. Pollinizing cultivars must have overlapping bloom period and bear fruits of commercial value. Planting of every fourth tree in every fourth row as pollinizer is adequate. In addition, keeping 2- 3 bee colonies/ha will be beneficial for obtaining higher yields.
Weed control is required to be done either by hand weeding or mechanically. Additionally grass mulching or polythene mulching can also be adopted.
6. Rejuvenation of Old and Unproductive Pear Orchards:
Pear trees often become unproductive after 15-20 years, and need to be rejuvenated for restoring new lease of life. The rejuvenation process is implemented by heading back 3-4 main scaffolds to about 15 cm during December-January months. The remaining scaffolds are eliminated.
The cut ends of scaffolds are painted with Bordeaux paste. Profuse sprouting of shoots takes place in March. In May month select only 1-2 outgoing shoots on each stub, keeping 6-8 total shoots per plant. Such rejuvenated plants need to be appropriately maintained with appropriate nutrition and timely control of pests and diseases.
7. Harvest Time and Yielding of Pear:
In general, pear yields in all hilly areas are low. This is mainly due to cultivation of highly prized European cultivars under rainfed conditions and not providing adequate inputs. Variations in yields in different districts of J&K, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh is mainly due to availability of favourable climate, planting right proportion of pollinizers, availability of pollinators and type of cultivar.
In European cultivars having soft flesh, yield of the order of 3 to 6 tons per hectare is obtained. In case of Patharnakh yield up to 20 tons/ha is harvested. Sand pear i.e. Patharnakh is available in the market from end of July to third week of August, whereas European pears are available from 15 August to first week of September. Semi soft varieties from Punjab are available from end of July to first week of August.
Fully matured fruits are harvested for fresh consumption, while still firm and green for canning and distant markets. However, delayed picking reduces storage life. Pear fruits are picked individually by giving a gentle twist rather than direct pulling. Harvesting should be done in 2-3 pickings at 3-4 days interval rather than single picking.
Pears after harvesting are pre-cooled to 0.6°C-1.6°C to remove field heat. Pre-cooling is not necessary if fruits are to be consumed within few weeks of harvesting. The deformed, bruised and damaged fruits are discarded while sorting. Pear fruits are graded as extra class, class I, class II and class III. The wooden or cardboard boxes are used for packing.
The fruits are packed in layers. The bottom and top layers of containers are properly cushioned to avoid compaction and bruising. The fruits can also be wrapped in 10 micron HDPE bags before packing, which maintains freshness. Pears can be stored for 120-240 days at -1.0°C and 85% RH.
8. Varieties of Pear:
Pear varieties have a great diversity in size, form, quality, texture and flavour. Also, considerable variation may occur within a variety from one region to the next. Best pear varieties, which are soft in texture, are cultivated in high hills and semi-soft varieties are grown in low hills and plains. Pear varieties belong to three groups- European, Asian and Hybrids.
Varieties for High Hills:
Bartlett, Max Red Bartlett, Conference (P), Clapp’s Favourite, Dr. Jule’s Guyot, Flemish Beauty (P), Laxton’s Superv, Comice, Winter Nellis, William Bartlett and Kashmir Pear.
Varieties for Low Hills and Plains:
Keiffer (P), Le Conte. Bagugosha, Patharnakh, Punjab Beauty, Punjab Soft, Punjab Gold etc.