DRESDEN, Ont. — Harovin Sundown may be the crowning achievement of Agriculture Canada’s pear breeding program.
The first commercial planting went into the ground in Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula this spring but has been tested in field trials for much longer.
“I think Sundown is probably the best of the material we have available at the moment,” said plant breeder David Hunter.
“It tastes like a little bit of heaven on earth, but then I’m biased.”
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Biased or not, Sundown has attributes that should interest farmers and consumers.
Hunter said the hybrid produced significantly higher yields than Bartlett in test orchards, which is the result of more fruit per tree and larger fruit.
Sundown pears can also grow to 10 centimetres in diameter, compared to less than eight cm for most Bartlett pears. Sundown is also resistant to fire blight, as are all of Agriculture Canada’s pear varieties.
The pear is harvested in mid to late September and can be stored for three to four months. That’s an advantage for consumers who want a Canadian-grown pear in February.
Sundown can grow in British Columbia and Ontario and may also be adapted to Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley.
Hunter said the variety is sweet and reminiscent to Bartlett, one of the parents. The other parent is a numbered U.S. cultivar.
The development of new pear cultivars isn’t a task for impatient people. The best-case scenario, from the initial cross to the release, is about 18 years, Hunter said.
Harvey Quamme of Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Harrow, Ont., made the initial cross for Sundown in 1972.
Hunter became involved several years later during the selection and evaluation progress.
The department established its pear breeding program in 1962. Six cultivars have been released and others are in the pipeline.
“For a pear program, we haven’t done too badly. Pear breeding is a notoriously slow program,” Hunter said.
“We feel we have fulfilled our mandate to introduce fire blight resistant pear selections. We have selections that ripen from two weeks earlier than Bartlett to four weeks after Bartlett.”
One hundred to 500 seedlings can be grown following a cross. Breeders consider themselves lucky if more than one is developed into a cultivar.
Seedlings are first screened for fire blight resistance. Those that make the grade, perhaps 25 percent, are planted.
There’s a juvenile phase of up to a decade and then several years are required for testing.
