In the UK, the East Malling Concept Pear Orchard is yielding positive results that has led to it being described as ‘the future for the UK conference pear industry’.
Located in Kent in southern England, East Malling saw its conference yield nearly double to 22 tonnes in only its second harvest this year, producing 97-98 per cent Class 1 fruit from 1ha of production.
The Concept Pear Orchard, developed with UK retailer Sainsbury’s by Chingford Fruit Ltd – part of AG Thames – has exceeded the national production average of 14 tonnes in just two and a half years, with this season’s volumes up 10 tonnes on the 2010 crop.
“Nearly doubling last year’s harvest, and producing an estimated 97-98 per cent of Class 1 pears, shows that there is a strong commercial case for investing in intensive pear production and adopting the same techniques used by the estate team at East Malling,” says Adrian Padfield, chief executive of East Malling Limited.
“To exceed the industry’s typical levels of production in only its second harvest is fantastic news,” he adds. “We are confident this performance will be replicated on the Sweet Sensation pear orchard of nearly 19,000 trees planted intensively in a 7ha orchard established earlier in the year in partnership with AG Thames.”
Francis Wheatley of AG Thames explains that the idea behind the orchard was to play a part in educating and inspiring UK growers to invest in new orchards.
“Through this partnership with Sainsbury’s we are showing that there is the ability to increase productivity, as well as exceed the traditional levels of quality to provide a sustainable future for the UK grower, and also help to satisfy growing consumer demand for homegrown fruit,” he says.
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