Pear producers are very worried. Conference pear trees barely flower, something never seen before since the introduction of this variety on a commercial scale in the early 1980s. This variety represented 53% of production in Spain last year. More than half of Catalonia's pear is Conference.
"The lack of flowering in Conference pear observed from mid-March to early April 2024 does not affect all areas and localities equally, but it can be said that regardless of subsequent fruit set, it will constitute a major problem for the year 2024." This is how the agronomist specialist in fruit growing and Technical Manager of Agromillora Group, Ignasi Iglesias, speaks bluntly.
Iglesias maintains that this problem is transversal at least for the area of Lleida and for the entire area from Bajo Ebro to Navarra, except in Rioja Alta and Bierzo (León).
He insists that it affects the main 'Conference' producing area in Spain and highlights that regardless of fruit set, as there is little or very little flower (well below what is considered normal for this variety), production can be reduced to more than 50%. % with respect to an average year. This fact can be confirmed at the end of June 2024.”
In other varieties such as 'Blanquilla' or 'Ercolini', flowering has been normal while in 'Williams' and 'Limonera' plots with lower production have been observed. The same has happened with the 'Gala' apple variety, but in this case it is about specific plantations and not a generalized problem like in 'Conference'.
From Iglesias' point of view, "it is a physiological disorder that results in the buds that should have been flower buds (mainly lamburdas and also brindillas) evolving into wood and not into flowers, which will result in a reduction in production for 2024.
It occurs in plantations of all ages. If it is true, as seen in later photos, that the condition is minor in young trees, it has been detected in plantations with both quince rootstocks and pear tree francs. It affects plantations that in 2023 were irrigated with the normal amount and also those whose irrigation amount was reduced.
Iglesias considers that it may be a transversal factor attributable to climatic conditions that caused stress in the summer of 2023 and including January 2024. “And within these conditions, high temperatures would be a probable factor,” he specifies.
Temperatures were especially higher than normal in the third week of August (above 40 degrees for a week), also in October 2023 and finally at the end of January 2024 (28ºC were reached in the Lleida area), if It is true that in both cases both induction and floral differentiation were determined.
Although the number of cold hours accumulated in recent years is still more than 1000, the accumulation period is much shorter and the cold accumulation is more irregular. Previously, accumulation began in early November until mid-February. In recent years this begins in mid-December until the end of January and also with greater variability in temperatures throughout this period.
For her part, the president of the Fruit Business Association of Catalonia (Afrucat), Montse Baró, assures that the flowering of Conference "is going slowly." Technicians look for different causes. “It was thought that the lack of water could have affected it and in the end what is clear is an impact on the climate. That is to say, it may be that a summer has been spent with a lot of heat stress, with a very long autumn.”
