Inducing early cropping in pears

2016 | Petar Bursac, Fruit Growers Victoria | Future Orchards® trial report

This Northern Victoria trial investigates ways to bring young pear trees into production earlier. Early cropping is commercially important because the establishment cost of a new pear block is high and returns are delayed until enough productive canopy has been developed.

The trial considers orchard practices intended to shift the balance from vegetative growth toward productive fruiting without compromising the framework required for future yields. In this type of work, the key measures are not only whether fruit is produced earlier, but also how the treatment affects shoot growth, canopy development, fruiting wood and the longer-term capacity of the tree.

APAL lists the work among the 2015–2016 Future Orchards® trial reports, with Petar Bursac of Fruit Growers Victoria as the lead. The resource is most useful as a local demonstration of the trade-off between building tree structure and encouraging early yield, and as a prompt for growers to set measurable canopy and crop targets during establishment.