EARLY BEARING OF SIX PEAR CULTIVARS GRAFTED ON PYRUS CALLERYANA IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL

Abstract

In southern Brazil, the biggest pear production area in the country, little information on phenological and productive performance of pear trees is available. Thereby, the intent of the present work was to evaluate the performance of the pear trees ‘Housui’, ‘Packham’s’, ‘Rocha’, ‘William’s’, ‘Santa Maria’ and ‘Forelle’ grafted on Pyrus calleryana rootstock. The experiments were conducted at Bom Jesus city, located in the northeastern part of the Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. During the first and second year after grafting techniques to stimulate feather formation and to control the excessive vegetative growth were implemented. The main vegetative and productive data such as phenological stages, trunk cross section area (TCSA), number of flower clusters, fruit set, number of seeds/fruit and productivity were collected. The first crop was harvested in the third year after grafting. The fruit set presented large variations between cropping years, triggering alternate bearing. ‘Housui’ and ‘Forelle’ presented a reduced overlap of flowering period with the other cultivars under evaluation. In addition, these two cultivars exhibited highest TCSA and lowest yields. The cultivars ‘Packham’s’ and ‘Rocha’ had an adequate overlay of flowering periods. The same was observed with the cultivars ‘Santa Maria’ and ‘William’s’. ‘Packham’s’ had the best productive performance in third and fourth years of evaluation, while ‘William’s’ was more productive in the fifth year and in the accumulated sum of yields for the extent of the trial. In conclusion, ‘William’s’, followed by ‘Packham’s’, ‘Rocha’ and ‘Santa Maria’, in that order, are the most productive cultivars under southern Brazilian climatic conditions.