THE PEAR INDUSTRY IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Pear (Pyrus communis L.) is a popular fruit species in Croatia. It is grown mainly on small family farms and less on large plantations. By growing areas, compared to other fruit species, pear is in 9th place, with a share of 3.31% (860 ha out of 26,003 ha). Since the production is less than 10,000 t per year significant quantities of fruit for consumption and processing have to be imported. Based on 15-year data the most common rootstock is Pyrus communis L. (39.1%), followed by Quince BA 29 (25.4%), MC (17.8%), MA (16.4%), Sydo (0.7%) and Adams (0.5%). The most common cultivars is ‘Williams’ (27.3%), followed by ‘Conference’ (16%), ‘Bella di Giugno’ (8.5%), ‘Abbe Fetel’ (7.1%), ‘Butira Precoce Morettini’ (5.5%), ‘Santa Maria’ (5.1%), ‘Poire de Cure’ (4.9%), ‘Beurre Hardy’ (3.5%), ‘Packam’s Triumph’ (2.2%) and ‘Clapp’s Favourite’ (1.9%). The average number of trees per ha is 1,267. Of the total number of registered trees only 9% are grown in the Adriatic Croatia, and the remaining 91% (781.8 ha) in the continental part of Croatia. In the past decade modern plantations have been gradually established on less vigorous rootstocks (mainly MC and less Adams and Sydo) with economically valuable cultivars such as ‘Abbe Fetel’ and ‘Conference’.