EUROPEAN PEAR ORCHARD DESIGN AND HDP MANAGEMENT: A REVIEW

Abstract

This survey provides a first-hand view of the various techniques aimed at improving pear orchard designs. The trend towards higher density plantings is a general one, at least in Europe, and this too is a marked difference from apple, especially given that tree development in pear can be variously configured at pruning severities that apple does not allow. Research and development must press on to upgrade tree efficiency models vis a vis today's dwarfing or semi-dwarfing pear/quince and pear/seedling clonal rootstocks and fruit quality performance. While viable planting densities can go as high as 3-5,000 trees/ha, the level of the management practices and inputs needed to sustain them must rise along with them, pushing the attendant risks up as well. Increasing pear yields beyond a certain limit increases the likelihood that fruit quality will diminish if orchard efficiency is not maintained. It has been shown that such efficiency can be held steady at 40-50 t/ha in the most suitable pear districts, although the traits of cultivars like the early-ripening Bartlett and the autumn Doyenne du Comice make such steady yield rates hard to achieve. In general, high density plantings evince yields in established orchards that are not appreciably higher than those recorded at medium densities, which often show a better fruit size and quality, too.