Evaluation of hard pear germplasm for fruit bearing and quality attributes

An investigation was carried out to observe the variability in yield, physical and quality attributes in hard pear strains. The number of fruits harvested was higher in strain II, strain I, strain IX, strain VI and strain V. The average fruit weight ranged from 123.72 to 181.78 g in different strains. The fruit colour was light yellowish-green in strains II, X and XI, while it was yellowish-green in strains I, VI, VII, and VIII. The outer colour of fruits in all the strains was yellow golden. Strain X had the maximum fruit length and breadth, whereas the minimum fruit length was in strain VI and fruit breadth in strain IX. The pedicel length was longest in strain V and it was found to be shortest in strain XI. The highest fruit firmness was found in strain I and the lowest in strain XI. The maximum juice content was obtained in fruits of strain XI and the lowest in strain I. The fruits of strain VII showed maximum number of lenticels and strain X had minimum lenticels. The organoleptic rating was ranged from 6.16 to 8.18 score in different strains. The highest values of TSS, acidity and sugars were observed in strain XI. The strains I, II, VI and IX were found to be promising in yield, physical and quality attributes.