VEGETATIVE ASPECTS OF EUROPEAN PEAR SCIONS CULTIVARS IN COMBINATION WITH QUINCE ROOTSTOCKS IN URUPEMA SANTA CATARINA STATE, BRAZIL

The pear is the third most consumed temperate fruit in Brazil, however, the further expansion of its planting requires the development of technologies that facilitate its cultivation. The objective of this work was to evaluate different pear scion-rootstock combinations planted at different spacings. The experiment was conducted at Agrícola Fraiburgo S/A orchards in the city of Urupema, Santa Catarina State (altitude 1400 m). Each scion-rootstock combination was planted with 4 m between rows and 0.3, 0.5 or 1 m between trees. The cultivars evaluated were ‘Packham’s Triumph’, ‘Santa Maria’, ‘Conference’, ‘Rocha’, ‘Decana de Comizio’, ‘Abate Fetel’, ‘Clapp’s Favorite’ and ‘William’s’. They were grafted on quince rootstocks EMA, EMC and Adams. The experimental design was a randomized complete block, with three blocks and twenty plants per plot. To evaluate plant vigor, canopy height (m) and canopy volume (m³) were measured. Scion-rootstock incompatibility was determined by measuring the fertility index (number of buds/branch length) and the difference between scion diameter and graft diameter (mm). The ‘Packham’s Triumph’/EMA and ‘Abate Fetel’/Adams combinations showed good vegetative growth at all spacings. However, ‘William’s’, ‘Conference’, ‘Rocha’, ‘Abate Fetel’, all grafted on EMC, showed morphological incompatibility.