The East Malling Concept Pear Orchard has nearly doubled its yield to 22 tonnes in only its second harvest, producing 97-98 percent Class 1 fruit from one hectare.
The Concept Pear Orchard, developed with Sainsbury’s by Chingford Fruit Ltd has exceeded the national production average in just two and a half years, after being planted in March 2009.
A traditionally planted and managed pear orchard can take 10 to 15 years to reach maturity and produces an average of around 14 tonnes per hectare and 78-80 percent Class 1 fruit.
The intensive pear orchard produced more than 22 tonnes of top quality fruit from its one hectare, 10 tonnes more than in the 2010 harvest.
Adrian Padfield, CEO of East Malling Limited, said: “Nearly doubling last year’s harvest, and producing an estimated 97-98 percent 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.
“To exceed the industry’s typical levels of production in only its second harvest is fantastic news. We are confident this performance will be replicated on the Sweet Sensation pear orchard of nearly 19,000 trees planted intensively in a seven hectare orchard established earlier in the year in partnership with AG Thames.”
Francis Wheatley, technical manager at AG Thames, said: “The whole reason we planted this orchard with East Malling Limited was to play our part in informing, educating and, we hope, 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.”
After harvesting the pears were put into coldstore before being packed and despatched to Sainsbury’s stores across the UK.
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