Pears

How to Improve Pear Quality Control

There are more than 3,000 varieties of pears sold around the world, and the pear is actually part of the rose family! Pears are most likely to thrive in regions that experience a later frost, and have a cooler, more dry summer. A delicious and sweet fruit, learning how to optimize quality control in pears can be the difference between success and failure for growers, distributors, marketing companies and retailers alike.  

This is where Clarifruit’s AI-based technology comes in, creating a standardized way to measure pear quality control for all stakeholders. Through a simple mobile app interface at the moment of inspection, and an in-depth QC management dashboard on the cloud, pear quality can be set ahead of time with specific parameters, ensuring less waste, fewer price renegotiations, and smarter routing of pear shipments for all parties involved. 

Common Defects when Growing & Harvesting Pears

The following defects are the ones that are most likely to affect pear quality across the supply chain: 

Blast

Black lesions on the leaves of a pear crop could signify blast, which is a bacteria-based disease which is often found in cold and wet weather. The lesions expand across the twigs and branches of the tree, and in severe cases you can see the lesions on the pears themselves.

Codling moth

Pests are also a problem for pear trees. One of the most common is the codling moth, which burrows holes into the fruit, which you may see blocked with excrement from the insect. You might also see the insects themselves, brown moths with pink larvae.

Fabraea leaf spot

Also known as black spot or leaf blight, this can be identified by brown or black patches on the leaves, which if untreated can spread to the fruit itself. The patches usually arrive towards the end of the summer, and can cause the leaves to drop off altogether.

Fire blight

One of the worst pear fruit diseases, you can recognize this defect by cankers which ooze a creamy substance onto the leaves, fruit and blossoms of a pear tree. As the area around the cankers usually takes on a charred, black texture and appearance, the name fire blight was given to this ailment.

Leafrollers

If you see webbing on your pear yield, you may have leafrollers. You can also identify these pests by rolled leaves, feeding damage, and scarring. Shake the tree, and you may see the larvae moving around, and even dropping down attached to the silk thread of their webbing. When spraying for this pest, make sure to reach inside the rolled leaves.

Oak root fungus

This is a fungus that can ruin an entire crop, and spread quickly through an orchard. Trees will likely need to be uprooted and removed. It can be identified by dying branches, discolored leaves which drop very early, and sometimes mushrooms which sprout at the base of the plant, which are tan or honey-colored.

Pear psylla

This insect is dark red or brown, and can be very resistant to insecticides, making it hard to remove from a crop once found. It can be helpful to apply treatment during off seasons when the trees are lying dormant, which can reduce the amount of this kind of pest.

Pear scab

If you see soft lesions on the fruit or leaves of the pear tree, you might be looking at pear scab. These lesions are usually black or green in color, and may come alongside gray twigs which crack as they get older. You could see this disease twice, once in early summer and then again later in the season.

Sooty blotch

Black smudges that are found directly on the pear’s skin could be sooty blotch. The defect can spread rapidly, especially when the weather is wet and humid. Fungicide can stop the spread, but sooty blotch does not harm the fruit and can actually be washed/wiped away.

Spring pear cankerworm

You can spot this insect pest by the damage it does. Leaves will be torn down to almost nothing, just the veins of the leaves will be left, and the young fruit will be marked with scars.

Interesting Facts about Pears

Common Quality Attributes for Growing and Harvesting Pears

The following internal and external pear attributes are commonly used for quality evaluation:

Diameter

Sugar

Firmness

For the full list of attributes that the Clarifruit platform currently evaluates and recommended quality standards for each, download our free app now.

The Clarifruit platform also integrates with 3rd-party technology to evaluate external pear attributes. Learn more here.

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