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Talent Station 6: Tasty Pears Mean Big Business

THE COMICE PEAR ORCHARD seen here is typical of the many pear orchards in the Rogue Valley which produce over half the gross value of agricutural products in Jackson County. Thousands of boxes of pears are marketed internationally through mail order operations.

The trees, which are pruned to a height of 10.5 feet, produce 15-17 tons of pears per acre. Irrigation for this orchard is provided by creek water rights and the Talent Irrigation District. Soil moisture content is measured to determine when irrigation is necessary.

Insects (pear psylla, the coddling moth, and the two-spotted spider mite) are among the problems faced by growe4rs. Monitors take frequent samples from the orchard to find out the type and density of infestation, and spray accordingly.

Another major problem in our area is frost. You can see the equipment used here to raise the temperature: orchard heaters underneath the trees (called "return stacks"), and wind machines which draw warm air down to mix with the colder air produced by a termperature inversion.

The fuzzy area at the center of the photo
is the pear orchard in autumn.