PEAR

Important fruit crop of temperate region. It belongs to the family Rosaceae. It can grow at 1,700-2,400 m above mean sea-level. Pear fruit is rich source of protein and vitamins. Due to its wider adaptability of climate and soil pear can be grown in subtropical to temperate regions in India. Pear is cultivated in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and U.P and low chilling varieties do well in subtropical regions.

It can grow on variety of soil ranging from sandy loam to clay loam. It gives best results when grown in deep, well drained, fertile soil without having any hard pan up to 2meter depth. pH of soil should not be more than 8.7.

A)    European varieties:

Bartlett: It has thin peel which is light yellow in color and yellow or red color spots are seen on the peel. It has soft flesh which is sweet and juicy in nature. It has low keeping quality. This variety is also known as William or William Bartlett or William Bone Kritane.

Max Red Bartlett: It has red color fruit peel.

Bureau Hardy: It has big sized and round fruits. It has golden brown color fruit peel. The fruit matures in first fortnight of August.

Winter Nelis: It has small sized and round fruits. The peel is green in color which turns yellow at maturity. The fruit matures in second fortnight of august. It has good keeping quality.

Jargonelle: This fruits of this variety are big in size and are long. Fruit is juicy and soft. The fruit matures in first fortnight of September.

Thumb Pear: It has small shape fruits which has soft flesh, juicy and sweet in taste. The fruits mature in second fortnight of June. 

Starkrimson Delicious: It has big fruits which are flavourable. Fruit flesh is buttery and soft. The variety matures in end-July. Fruits are shiny red in color. It has white flesh which is sweet in taste.

Anjou: The variety is resistant to cold. Big fruits, shiny green, greenish-yellow at maturity, sweet flesh, and medium sour in taste. It has good keeping quality.

Flemish Beauty: Fruits are ovate in shape, shiny and smooth. It has white flesh, juicy and soft. Fruits are flavourable and have good keeping quality.

B)    China and Japan varieties:

Patharnakh: It is a hard pear variety and spreading variety. Fruits are of medium size, round and green with prominent dot on it. Flesh is juicy and crisp. Because of its good keeping quality it is useful for long distance transport. It mature is July last week. Gives average yield of 150 kg per tree.

Twentieth Century: Its fruits are similar to Patharnakh variety.

C)    Hybrid varieties:

Le Conte: It is a semi soft variety of pear. Fruits are of small to medium size. Fruits are of greenish yellow color with white juicy, sweet flesh. It gets mature in first week of August. Gives average yield of 60-80 kg per tree.

Kieffer: The variety matures in end-August. Fruits are large, golden yellow colored.

Gola: It has round and medium sized fruits. It has good storage capacity. The fruit matures in July month.

Punjab Beauty: It is a semi soft variety of pear. Trees are of medium size, upright and bear regularly. Fruits are of medium size with yellow and red blush. Flesh is of white color and more juicy and sweet. Fruits mature in July third week. It gives average yield of 100 kg per plant.

Babugosha: It is a semi soft variety of pear. Fruits are of greenish yellow color with flesh is sweet and of cream or white color. Fruits get mature in August first week. The variety is suitable for transportation. Gives average yield of 100 kg per tree. 

The seedling rootstocks used for pear are Kainth. Collect fully mature seeds of Kainth from September end to October first week crops. Extract seeds and place them in wooden box containing alternate layer of moist sand in December month for 30 days. In January month sow them in nursery. In 10 days seeds get germinate. Seedlings are ready for grafting in January of next year. 

Training is done for the development of strong framework of scaffold branches to get higher yield and quality fruit. The pear trees are trained according to modified central leader system.

In plain areas, add nitrogen@50-60gm for the trees having 2-3 years of age, add nitrogen@80-100gm for the trees having 3-6 years of age add nitrogen@120-140gm for the trees having more than 10 years of age. Full dose of fertilizers should be added in January-February month before 20-25 days of flower germination.

In hilly areas, application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash@25:20:25gm/tree should be given in first year. After 8 year or more the dose of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash@25:20:25gm/tree should be given.
 

Spray with Diuron@1.6kg/acre as pre-emergence after completing ploughing. The weeds can be controlled as post emergence by Glyphosate@1.2Ltr/acre or Paraquat@1.2Ltr/acre in 200 ltr of water when weeds are 15-20 cm in height.

A well distributed average rainfall of 75–100 cm is required throughout the year for pear cultivation. It needs regular irrigation after transplantation. In summer irrigate crop with 5-7 days interval whereas increased irrigation interval to 15 days in winter months. In January month stop irrigating. Give flood irrigation to bearing tree in summer month it will help to increased fruit quality and size.

• Pest and their control:

Hopper: They suck sap from influences, leaves. On infection flower get sticky and sooty mould a black color fungus is developed on affected parts.

Aphid and Thrips: They suck sap from leaves and causing yellowing of leaves. They secret honey dew like subtance and black sooty mould is developed on affected areas. 

• Disease and their control:

Root Rot: Bark and wood get turn brown with white powdery growth on it. Infected tree get wilted and give early leaves fall.

For local markets fruits are harvested at fully mature stage and in case of distant markets firm and green fruits are picked. Delayed in picking reduces storage life, unattractive color, insipid flavor. Hard peach variety required near about 145 days to mature whereas semi soft peach varieties required near about 135-140 days for harvesting.

After harvesting do sorting and grading of fruits. Then pack these fruits in Corrugated Fibre Board cartons for ripening, storage and marketing purpose. Treat fruits with 1000ppm Ethephon for three to four minutes or exposed them to 100ppm ethylene gas for 24hrs and then stored at 20°C. Fruits can be stored for 60days when they are stored at 0-1°C temperature with relative humidity 90-95%.