ADAPTATION OF SOME JAPANESE PEARS IN HUNGARY

At the beginning of the 1990s, Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) cultivars were planted for evaluation in three different regions in Hungary. The Agricultural Quality Control Station in Pölöske offers an optimal climate for the European pear, the Experimental Station of Szent István University in Szigetcsép has a continental climate and, the third region, Heves in North-Eastern Hungary, has a balanced climate. We investigated the ecological needs of eight cultivars: ‘Chojuro’, ‘Hosui’, ‘Ishiiwase’, ‘Kikusui’, ‘Kosui’, ‘Nijisseiki’, ‘Shinko’ and ‘Yakumo’. Our goal was to find the most promising cultivars for Hungarian ecological conditions. Canopy parameters, flower bud initiation, fruit quality and the yield per tree were measured. The average canopy in sandy loam (Szigetcsép) was smaller by 50% than those of the two other sites which have optimal climates for growing the Japanese pear. However all three sites have limited precipitation, therefore, irrigation is necessary. Because Japanese pear blooms early, spring frost can often cause serious damage. The highest average yield in nine years was 27 kgs/tree, in Heves. After the experiences of the first few fruiting years and the investigation of the flower bud initiation, we proposed two cultivars (‘Hosui’ and ‘Nijisseiki’) for Hungarian variety registration.