PERFORMANCE OF 'US 71655-014', A FIRE BLIGHT RESISTANT PEAR SELECTION FROM THE USA

‘US 71655-014’ is a fire blight resistant pear selection developed at the USDA Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, West Virginia. In an earlier, unreplicated trial in Oregon it was determined that ‘US 71655-014’ had several positive attributes including precocity, annual production, attractive fruit appearance, good storability and consumer acceptance. In 2005, a replicated trial was established in Hood River, Oregon to compare the field performance of ‘US 71655-014’ to ‘Beurre d’Anjou’, the primary winter pear cultivar in the USA. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with ten single-tree replicates on OH×F 97 rootstock. ‘US 71655-014’ had higher five-year cumulative yield, yield efficiency, fruit set, and fruit number compared to ‘Beurre d’Anjou’. ‘US 71655-014’ had lower fruit weight and trunk cross-sectional area than ‘Beurre d’Anjou’. A fruit thinning trial with three cropload treatments was initiated in 2010. Fruit thinning resulted in larger fruit with a corresponding shift in weight-class distribution.