Challenges and opportunities in pear breeding

Publication date: 29/06/2019
Extent: 28 pages

Contributions by: Danielle Guzman and Amit Dhingra, Washington State University, USA

Chapter synopsis: Although pear (Pyrus spp.) is an economically important fruit worldwide, pear cultivars and production practices have been among the slowest of the temperate fruits to change to meet modern consumer demands and labor-efficient orchard realities. In the United States, the majority of the pear orchards are low-density plantings with large trees of long-standing cultivars that can reach up to 15 feet in height. Large vigorous trees require difficult and labor-intensive management, and are non-sustainable and inefficient in terms of application of inputs such as water, pesticides, and bio-regulators. This chapter addresses the challenges and opportunities in pear breeding. Starting with sections on both pear cultivars and pear rootstocks, there then follows a discussion on germplasm resources. Breeding techniques and improvement of particular traits is then considered including dwarfing, precocity, cold hardiness, fire blight resistance, tree architecture, and self-incompatibility. The chapter concludes with a discussion on future trends in this field of research.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2018.0040.19