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nafex - [NAFEX] Fwd: Snappy New 'Shenandoah' Pear

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  • From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
  • To: NAFEX <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Fwd: Snappy New 'Shenandoah' Pear
  • Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 06:40:25 -0700




Begin forwarded message:

From: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Date: July 19, 2005 6:24:20 AM PDT
To: ARS News subscriber <lonrom@hevanet.com>
Subject: Snappy New 'Shenandoah' Pear
Reply-To:
ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>

STORY LEAD:
Snappy New Pear Is Long-Storing, Blight-Resistant
___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Rosalie Marion Bliss, (301) 504-4318, rbliss@ars.usda.gov
July 19, 2005
--View this report online, plus any included photos or other images, at ars.usda.gov/is/pr
___________________________________________

Shenandoah, the third fire blight-resistant pear developed by Agricultural Research Service horticulturist Richard Bell, has recently been released. The luscious new pear will appeal to consumers who enjoy rich-tasting fruit, because its higher-than-average acidity gives it a snappy flavor. Shenandoah's relatively high acidity is balanced with a high level of sugars that makes it sweet.

Fire blight is a devastating pear disease caused by a bacterium, Erwinia amylovora, native to North America. It greatly limits pear production in eastern and midwestern states, so growers in California, Oregon and Washington produce most of the pears harvested in the United States. Shenandoah can be grown in all production regions, but will be especially useful in areas where fire blight is prevalent.

In the Eastern United States, pears mature and are harvested from early August through early October. Shenandoah matures in September, about four weeks after the widely grown Bartlett variety. Commercial and backyard pear growers will find the new pear can be stored for up to four months in cold air storage.

Bell and colleagues at the ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va., began developing the original seedling of Shenandoah more than two decades ago. Because pear trees have a long juvenile period, they don't produce enough fruit for evaluation until they are five to eight years old. The researchers then spent an additional eight years studying how long the Shenandoah pear tree takes to bear a crop, the quality of the crop's yield and its consistency from one year to the next.

Certified bud wood of Shenandoah is available to nurseries from Pullman-based Washington State University's National Research Support Project No. 5, by contacting manager William Howell via e-mail at wehowell@wsu.edu or by contacting Bell at http://afrsweb.usda.gov/DBell.htm.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief in-house scientific research agency.
___________________________________________

* This is one of the news reports that ARS Information distributes to subscribers on weekdays.
* Start, stop or change an e-mail subscription at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/subscribe.htm
* NewsService@ars.usda.gov | www.ars.usda.gov/news
* Phone (301) 504-1638 | fax (301) 504-1486






  • [NAFEX] Fwd: Snappy New 'Shenandoah' Pear, Lon J. Rombough, 07/19/2005

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