• Pear is one of the important fruit crops of temperate regions. Its fruits are rich source of protein (0.69 g), vitamins (vitamin A 0.06 mg, vitamin B 0.03 mg) and minerals like calcium (8mg), phosphorus (15mg) and iron (0.5mg) per 100g of pulp. Patharnakh fruits are well known for their keeping quality and ability to withstand transportation.

Climate and Soil

  • The sub-tropical pears which are recommended for cultivation in Punjab require 200 to 300 chilling hours. The soft pear cultivars grown in higher hills of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir require 900 to 1000 chilling hours which are not available under the sub-tropical conditions of Northern India. For this reason these are not cultivated in these areas.
  • Pear can be grown successfully on a variety of soils from sandy loam to clay loam provided it is deep, well drained, fertile, without the presence of hard pans of any type in the top 2 metres and does not have a pH value more than 8.7. The electrical conductivity should be less than 1.5 mmhos/cm, calcium carbonate less than 10% and lime concretion less than 20%. In high pH soils deficiencies of iron and zinc always pose a problem.

Recommended Cultivars

  • Hard Pear Punjab Nakh (2008) : It is a selection from Patharnakh. Tree spreading and vigorous. Fruit weight 155 g, ovate, light yellowish green with prominent dots. The flesh is gritty, crisp and juicy. Keeping quality good. Fruits mature in fourth week of July. The average yield is 190 kg per plant.
  • Patharnakh (1967) : Tree spreading and vigorous, fruit medium, round, green with prominent dots. Flesh gritty, crisp and juicy. Keeping quality good, stands transportation well. Matures in the last week of July. Average yield is 150 kg per tree.

Semi Soft Pear

  • Punjab Gold (2004): Tree upright and medium in vigour. Fruit large with average weight of 166g ground colour golden yellow, white fleshed. Total soluble solids 13.3 per cent with acidity 0.22 per cent. Mature fruit less gritty, mellow when ripe. Matures in end of July. Yield 80 kg per tree. Suitable for processing and table purposes.
  • Punjab Nectar (2004): Tree upright and medium in vigour, precocious, fruit medium to large, ground colour yellow green, white fleshed, average fruit weight 138g. Total soluble solids 13.6 per cent, acidity 0.21 per cent, mature fruits less gritty, mellow when ripe and very juicy. Fruit matures in fourth week of July. The average yield is 80 kg per tree. Suitable for table and processing purposes.
  • Punjab Beauty (1999) : The trees are upright, medium in vigour and regular in bearing. The fruit is medium,yellow with red blush. Total soluble solids 14.0 per cent with acidity 0.3 per cent. Fruits mature in third week of July. The average yield is 80 kg per plant.
  • Baggugosha (1967) : Tree upright and vigorous, fruit greenish yellow, stem end tapering. Flesh white or cream-coloured, sweet, somewhat gritty. Matures in the first week of August and stands transportation well. Average yield is 60 kg per tree.

Soft Pear

  • Nijisseiki (2010) : Tree spreading, medium in vigour, leaf colour green, fruit size medium, ground colour golden brown, flesh whitish. TSS 12.9%, acidity 0.21%, mature fruits very soft, fruit firmness (11.17 lbf), very juicy (74.6% juice), matures in end June to first week of July, fruit ripen on tree, yields 80.2 kg per tree. Suitable for processing like RTS, nectar and squash. Fruits have good storage potential and can be stored for 4 weeks at 0-10 C and 90-95% RH.
  • Punjab Soft (2007) : Tree upright, spreading and medium in vigour. The fruit is medium, ground colour yellow green. The
    58 flesh is white and mature fruit is soft and very juicy. Total soluble solids 11.3 per cent with acidity 0.135 per cent. Matures in first week of July. The average yield is 85 kg per plant. It is suitable for processing.

Propagation

  • Pear can be propagated on Kainth (Pyrus pashia) rootstock.It reduces precocity and does not produce rootsuckers.
  • Collection of Kainth (Pyrus pashia) Seed: Fully mature fruits of Kainth are collected from end of September to first week of October. Seeds extracted from the softened fruits are stratified for promoting germination during December by placing them in alternate layers of moist sand in wooden boxes for a period of 30 days. The stratified seeds are sown in nursery beds in January. The seeds start germinating within 10 days. One month old seedlings are planted in nursery at a distance of 10×60 cm. These seedlings become graftable in January next year.
  • Raising of Kainth rootstock without stratification : The seeds extracted from mature fruits in last week of September or first week of October can be sown directly. Freshly extracted seeds should be placed in moist sand in wooden boxes for germination. The seeds germinate in 10-12 days. These seedlings are planted in the field in lines at 10 cm apart leaving 60 cm space after every four lines at 2 to 4 leaves stage. These seedlings become buddable in May-June or can be grafted in December-January.
  • Budding/Grafting : The pear is T-budded or tongue grafted on Kainth seedling. Tongue grafting is done in December January.

Planting

  • The planting of pear is done in winter while plants are still dormant. Planting may preferably be completed within January. Generally one year old plants are used but 2 to 3 years old nursery trained plants can also be planted.
  • Closer planting The pear cv. Patharnakh can be planted at 8 m×4 m distance and the trees are trained by bending of main scaffolds and two secondaries. This also helps in reducing juvenility by two years.

Rejuvenation of Old Pear Orchards

  • Pear trees tend to become less productive when they become very old. Production on such trees can be restored by rejuvenating them. It can be achieved by heading back 3 to 4 main scaffolds to about 15 cm during December-January. The rest scaffolds should be completely removed. Paint the cut ends with Bordeaux paint. Mainy sprouts shall emerge on these stubs in March. In May, retain only one to two out going-shoots on each stub with a total of 6 to 8 shoots per tree. Rejuvenated trees start fruiting in third year and bear commercial crop in the fifth year.

Weed Control

  • Light cultivation of the field should be done to manage the different kinds of weed flora. In pear orchards, 10 cm thick layer of paddy straw mulch (5.5 ton/acre) can be applied during second week of April mulching under the canopies of trees to suppress weeds.

Manures and Fertilizers

  • Age of tree (years)

    Farmyard manure (kg/tree)

    Dose per tree* (g)

    Urea

    Superphosphate

    Muriate of Potash

    1-3

    10-20

    100-300

    200-600

    150-450

    4-6

    25-35

    400-600

    800-1200

    600-900

    7-9

    40-50

    700-900

    1400-1800

    1050-1350

    10 and above

    50

    1000

    2000

    1500

  • Zinc deficiency : It appears on younger leaves as diffuse interveinal chlorosis, reduction in leaf size and tendency of the leaf edges to curl upward. To correct its deficiency, spray the plants with 3 kg zinc sulphate + 1.5 kg unslaked lime in 500 litres of water.
  • Iron deficiency : Iron deficiency appears on apical leaves which develop characteristic symptoms of dark green veins on a pale green background. Its deficiency may be corrected by spraying 0.3 per cent ferous sulphate (300g in 100 litres of water).

Irrigation

  • Pear trees need frequent irrigation after transplanting. The interval of irrigation may be 5 to 7 days during summer months and 15 days in July-August. Irrigation should be restricted after fruit harvest. No irrigation should be given in the month of January. Bearing trees should be irrigated through flood method during summer months at an interval of 5 to 7 days so that fruit size may be increased.

Intercropping

  • Intercrops like moong and mash can be grown during kharif while peas, gram and senji may be grown during rabi season in young and rejuvenated pear orchards to get some income during the non-bearing period. Additional dose of fertilizers should be given for intercrops. Berseem should not be grown as intercrop in pear because of its higher demand for irrigation during winter when the pear plants are in dormant condition and do not require any irrigation.

Crop Regulation

  • Pear tree tend to overbear, resulting in smaller fruits. To avoid this, one fruit per cluster may be retained after thinning. This operation should be performed soon after the occurrence of the natural fruit drop in the middle of April.
  • To improve the fruit size and increase the yield in Patharnakh and semi soft pear, three foliar sprays of potassium nitrate@ 1.5% (15 g per litre of water) at 15,30 and 45 days after full bloom should be applied.

Fruit Maturity and Harvesting

  • Harvesting of fruits should be done at proper stage of maturity. The fruits of Patharnakh mature 145 days after fruit set whereas fruits of Baggugosha and Punjab Beauty take 135 days and Punjab Nectar and Punjab Gold take 140 days to reach maturity. The fruits should be picked by giving an upward twist to the fruit so that the spurs are not damaged.